Morning Star: Part 2
by DarkUnderworld
Summary: Sequel to Morning Star Part 1. You will need to read the first part or else it will make no sense! Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Don't own the turtles, only the OC's!**

**Hello all! Welcome to Part 2! Anybody have any guesses on what is going on so far? Yes, No, confused, worried? Well read on!**

**p.s think of this as a continuation but a different arc of the story if you will. I hope you enjoy!**

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><p><span>Morning Star: Part 2 Chapter 1<span>

**Raphael** lay crushed into the snow. He couldn't even breathe, the weight of the hound upon his back had forced all of the air from his lungs and he could no longer inhale, not that it mattered since his face was pressed into the frigid snow anyway.

Bells rang through the night, toning like the sad gong of a cemetery bell.

"Here puppy puppy, come fetch the stick." A muffled voice came from behind him. "There's a good ugly puppy."

Raphael felt the weight on his back disappear as he took in a gasp of much needed air.

He coughed as he pushed himself to his knees.

"Bye bye ugly." The voice said.

He watched as a figure dressed from head to toe in black pulled back a bow. The figure let loose a blue arrow that blazed red. The arrow struck the hound in the chest. The hound let out a whimper of pain before it began to disintegrate.

Raphael wildly looked around for the figure in black, but he was already gone.

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><p><strong>Michelangelo<strong> tried to get his leg from the mouth of the Hellhound but it wasn't letting go. Bells tolled in the distance. The Hellhound let go of his leg as its massive head turned towards the sound. There was a black blur and suddenly the Hellhound's head separated from its body. Michelangelo looked in shock at the head as it began to disintegrate in front of him.

"Oh gross." He said as he scrambled back until he felt Donatello at his back.

The other hound seemed to be tracking something they couldn't see. The hound pulled back black lips and growled. It lunged and hit a black figure. The Hellhound crushed the figure underneath massive paws. A figure in black shot with blue, blocked a mouth full of razor sharp teeth with one Katana blade as he plunged the other through its chest. The hound whimpered as the figure pushed the disintegrating body off him. He stood, looked at them, and then was gone.

Michelangelo looked at Donatello in confusion. Whoever it had been was wearing some sort of black suit that completely covered the figure from head to toe. He had worn a full face helmet with a strip of blue running across the side. The black visor blocked the wearers eyes and face from view. Black armour had covered the torso over whatever fabric the suit itself was made of. Blue arm guards and shin guards had covered his arms and legs, black boots adorned his feet.

"Who was that?" He asked Donatello.

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><p><strong>Leonardo<strong> watched as the mantis demons crouched, ready to pounce. He pulled Strabright in close. "Close your eyes sweetheart." He told her as regret welled up in him. He should have listened to Katherine and took the girls to the lair and out of harm's way. But because of his stubbornness, his selfishness, Starbright was going to die.

The sound of bells ripped through the night. The bells tolled and rang with such sadness, such utter and total despair, that Leonardo was surprised at the sorrow that welled in him at the sound.

The demons stopped and stood straight as if they were confused at the sound.

"Mommy!" Starbright shouted happily.

Leonardo didn't even see the blades coming, didn't even hear them as they ripped through flesh and bone as easily as a hot knife through butter. The demons screamed as they fell, their blood arching through the night sky, spraying bright red blood onto fresh white snow.

"Don't touch the blood Daddy." Starbright warned as a petite figure suddenly appeared in front of them, black wings blocking them from the spray of demon blood.

Then the figure was gone, and all he had glimpsed were black robes, and black feathered wings.

He looked at the blood spattered ground and watched the blood steam and melt through the snow and begin eating into the ground beneath.

He looked at the strange bladed weapon driven into the ground in front of him. It was comprised of one piece of metal, a blade on each end of the 4 foot slightly curved weapon. Each blade was single edged and triangular in shape. The other side of each blade bore a hooked piece of metal. In the center black, blue and purple ribbons fluttered in the slight wind, bells ringing softly.

Starbright walked up to the weapon which was bigger than she was. She pulled it easily from the ground and split it in the middle. She gave him half. He looked at the blade in shock. It glinted with a strange silver light.

"Starbright, that was your mom?" He asked softly as he knelt in the snow.

She nodded happily as bells rang out through the night. Screams and shouts began echoing through the dark. There were flashes of red and silver that lit up the darkness around them. All thoughts of running to the cemetery deserted him.

Starbright held her blade defensively in front of her. He recognized the stance, it was one that he always used against rapidly approaching enemies.

She pulled back her arm and threw the blade. The bells didn't even chime as the blade struck home in the head of a Hellhound. It collapsed to the ground where it disintegrated.

He looked at the spot where the hound had fallen. He hadn't even seen or heard it coming.

"3 o'clock!" Starbright said suddenly. He threw the blade as she had to his right. There was a yip of pain as another Hellhound fell to the ground. Starbright held out her hands and both ends of the blade reappeared in her hands creating the single weapon again.

Michelangelo and Donatello collapsed beside him. He looked at Michelangelo whose leg looked to have been badly mauled. Blood was soaking through his jeans. He looked at Donatello whose left arm hung limply at his side, his sleeve nothing but a mass of crimson wetness.

Raphael stumbled out of the brush to his left. He avoided the holes in the ground caused by the demon's caustic blood.

Raphael stood in front of his brothers against the figures that emerged from the darkness. There were 5 figures in all. The woman stood in the middle. Large black wings fluttered in the night. She was dressed in black robes that fell to the ground. She wore black shoulder guards and a black breast plate with a gold tipped black butterfly emblazoned upon the held the twin of the bladed weapon Strabright now held, in a hand encased in clawed, black metal, gauntlets. She sheathed the weapon, the other weapon disappearing from Starbright's hand to settle itself on the woman's back. She wore an elaborate black headdress with blue and purple accents. The mirror image of a white crescent moon with the points facing up and down was emblazoned upon the headdress that obscured her hair. A silver metal visor covered her eyes and most of her face. All he could see was the bottom of her pale chin and lips the colour of blueberries. She was drenched in the blood of demons, but this did not seem to bother her.

"5 minutes." The man to the woman's left said to the rest of them. They were all dressed identically in black bio-suits of some sort which covered them from head to toe, even muffling their voices. The man directly to the woman's right was in a completely black suit, two sai sheathed at his sides. He stood beside a man on the end whose suit was accented in blue, two Katana strapped to his back. The man who had told them they had 5 minutes, his suit was accented in purple, a halberd strapped to his back. To his left was another man all in black, a bow slung across his shoulders.

"Where is she!" The man with the sais shouted. "Where is my daughter!" He roared.

Leonardo clutched Starbright to him protectively. "Daddy!" She yelled at the man on the end with the katana blades strapped to his back.

The man took a step forward. "Let go of my daughter." He growled.

"Darkness!" The man with the sais said in panic. The woman tipped her head to the side and pointed a clawed finger towards them.

"Daddy!" Starlight yelled as she stumbled from the brush. She ran to Raphael as he bent down and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her close. "I'm sorry daddy. I'm so, so sorry. There wasn't anything I could do." She sobbed into his shoulder.

"3 minutes." The man with the halberd said.

"What happened?" Raphael choked out as he brushed the tears from Stralight's cheeks.

"Mommy hid me, but, the demon he..." She swallowed hard as Leonardo felt his vision turn black. "He took her." She said miserably.

"Starlight, Starbright, we need to take you home. Now!" The man with the halberd said.

"But he took other mommy!" Starlight yelled at him. The men all looked at each other, then back at the little girl.

"Do you know where he took her?" Leonardo asked desperately.

Starlight nodded."To Hell." She said softly.

"We have to go, now!" The man with the Katanas said.

"Daddy, we can't leave, they took other mommy!" Starbright insisted as she clung to him.

"Don't touch her." The man with the halberd and purple accented suit said, as the man with the katanas advanced menacingly. "You're covered in demon blood. One minute." He said.

"Can she take them all?" The man with the Katana asked.

"We can't interfere in their world." The man with the halberd replied.

"But we already have." Said the man with the bow. He had been silent until now.

"A few demons don't count. It isn't like we even killed them, they will just reform in Hell anyway." The man with the sais growled. "Well, except for the ones killed with the Domkir blades, those ones are dead." He said with a shrug.

"But what if we are supposed to interfere?" The man with the bow asked.

"We can't even begin to determine the probability or the consequences of such an action." The man with the halberd said. "30 seconds."

"But it's Katherine." The man with the bow said softly.

All of the men looked at each other and nodded.

Leonardo studied the woman who had been silent and unmoving throughout the entire conversation.

The man with the halberd began tapping on his arm in a series of short and longer taps, like Morse code, but like none he had ever heard before. The woman tipped her head to the side as if she were listening.

"Mommy can't hear, or see, or speak." Starbright said softly. "It isn't the sound of the taps, it is the movement of the taps she senses."

The woman spread her arms and wings wide, her black wings blending into the darkness, almost becoming the darkness.

"Wait!" Raphael yelled. "What do you mean can she take us! We aren't going anywhere. We have to save Katherine! Who the Hell do yo..."

Leonardo didn't hear the rest of Raphael's words. He felt nothing. He couldn't see anything, hear anything or feel anything. He shouted into the darkness that surrounded him but he couldn't even hear the sound of his own voice. He felt as if his whole body was beginning to freeze. He began to panic in fear.

Sound rushed back to him as he felt the scrape of stone against his jeans. He could feel Starbright in his arms again. He opened his eyes. Everyone but Starbright's mother was groaning and pushing themselves off the floor.

The man with the halberd rushed to a giant computer with at least twenty holographic screens that were constantly streaming data faster than his brain could comprehend.

"Where the hell are we?" Raphael growled as he clutched his head in pain.

Michelangelo frowned and pulled up his pant leg. Where his leg had been mauled the flesh was now perfect, not even a scar to show that he had been injured. Donatello moved his arm around as he studied his surroundings.

They were in a large room with stone walls. Beyond the giant computer was a big screen TV, a couch, coffee table, and a small kitchen area. Children's toys were scattered here and there but not many, as if there was a rule against it, but the occasional toy made it into the room anyway.

"Tell me I can take this damn suit off now!" The man with the sais roared impatiently.

"Sorry." The man at the computer said. "You need to stay in your suits until Darkness pulls herself all the way back. We don't want to find that pieces of you have gone missing in the dark.

"There are no pieces of me missing. And if this was so damn dangerous how could you have exposed the girls to this!" He roared.

"The girls are fine. They can't get lost in the dark. We are lucky they didn't get all scrambled on the way." Purple said pointing at them. "Alright, Darkness is back and the tear has been closed. You can take the suits off." He said as he reached for his helmet and pulled it from his head.

Leonardo didn't know what he had been expecting. Creatures that looked like them, bore some resemblance perhaps, enough to confuse two little girls, but instead he watched as each face was revealed. He felt his world get a little fuzzy around the edges as he looked upon his brothers and himself.

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><p>Hehe. So first chapter of Part 2 whatcha think?<p>

Think you have it all figured out? *Smiles*


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay so I am dealing with turtle doubles so I needed to find a way to distinguish between them in writing. So for ease of this I have put the other turtle brother's names in _italics_ when refering to them. We will see how this works out. =S**

**This chapter is a little chaotic so hopefully it turned out okay.**

**Also a big thank you to forgottenforever, I love Athrun, rinpup14 and rocky181 for continuing on with the stroy and for reviewing!**

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><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

**Leonardo** watched as they stripped off the suits and he let Starbright run into her father's arms, his arms. Her white feathered wings pulled in close to her body. Starlight launched herself at the other _Raphael_, her white feathered wings spreading out to their full span. "Daddy!" They yelled in unison. Their counterparts clutched their daughters close as if by finally being able to touch them they could finally let go of their fear and worry.

Leonardo watched as the set of the other _Leonardo'_s shoulders relaxed. _Leonardo_ opened his eye and slowly stood. They had been wearing nothing under their suits but black shorts. His eyes drifted over the scars that covered his counterpart's body. It looked as if the whole left side of his body and face had been shredded, burned and put back together again. He only had the use of one eye, the other was closed run through with a large scar. His eyes drifted to his chest where a giant slash running from shoulder to thigh exposed soft flesh beneath. A large triangular chunk had also been taken out of his carapace. The other _Leonardo _was broader through the shoulders than he was, and older too. Under his blue mask he could see the soft age lines that had been carved around his eyes.

The Other him glared at him with his good eye. He noticed an eight-sided white star intertwined with a black double crescent moon on each of their chests.

His eyes moved to _Raphael _who had also stood. Four giant claw marks looked to have ripped through him from shoulder to thigh exposing delicate and scarred green flesh beneath. He frowned. Somehow _Raphael _looked the same as his own Raphael. No lines had yet marked age into his face. His eyes scanned _Michelangelo_ who looked the same, older, broader and a few more scars, but nothing significant. His eyes then rested on _Donatello_ who had stripped, but was intently studying the computer screens in front of him. Most of his face, his hands and his feet appeared to be the only places on his body that had not been scarred. Some of the scars were delicate thin lines, others were angry jagged slashes. He also bore age lines as well as a smaller frame than even their Donatello had, as if he had perhaps been ill for a long time and lost a great deal of his muscle mass.

They stared at each other in silence. _Raphael's _eyes flicked to the woman they called Darkness.

"What's wrong with her Donny?" _Raphael_ asked in concern.

_Donatello_ walked over to her and stood close, careful not to touch her. "She's having a hard time coming back." He said with a frown. He grabbed her shoulders avoiding the demon blood. "Come on Darkness." _Donatello_ growled at her and shook her. Ice began forming on his hands.

"Damn it!" _Raphael _growled as he stomped over to her.

"Daddy." Starlight admonished.

"Let go of her Donny before she kills you." _Raphael _said as he ripped _Donatello's_ ice covered hands from her shoulders.

"We'll get mommy back." Starlight and Starbright said in unison, their wings ruffling out and closing back against thier backs again.

_Donatello_ looked at _Leonardo._

"Strip her. Be cafeful, make sure you get all of the clothes that are covered in demon blood." _Leonardo _ordered. They meticulously began disrobing the woman. They removed her black breast plate with the black golden tipped butterfly emblazoned on the front. Her black shoulder guards and outer black robe that had been held together with a thick silk purple band went next. Underneath the outer robe were flowing blue and black robes. They stripped off her bloodied gauntlets, but left the elaborate headdress.

Starlight and Starbright skipped over to their mother and each grabbed a hand. No ice formed on their hands. They closed their eyes and began to glow. "Let our light guide you back from the darkness." They whispered.

Darkness's lips turned pink. Suddenly Darkness knelt bringing her daughters into a crushing embrace. "Mommy!"They squealed in delight.

Darkness slowly stood and looked at them. Leonardo wondered how it was that she knew they were even there since she couldn't see. She grabbed hold of her headdress and pulled it from her head.

Ebony hair fell in luxurious waves around her. Pale opalescent skin was revealed. Black cat ears lifted from within the confines of her hair. Black tiger-like markings lined the bottom half of her cheeks and jaw. A fluffy cat tail swished languidly back and forth as she ruffled out feathered black wings. Her moss green eyes stared at them inquiringly.

"Katherine." He managed to choke out in shock.

She tipped her head to the side as if studying him.

"Donatello, why is it that I am staring at your doubles?" She asked softly. Her voice was husky, but it contained something else, some other quality that made it ride and bounce along his skin.

"The demon took other mommy." Starlight said looking up at her mother.

Katherine's tail flicked in possible irritation.

"Donatello, explain." She said not taking her eyes off him. Leonardo realized then that she was no longer blind or deaf and could talk just fine at the moment.

"We didn't have enough time and the girls wouldn't leave them. We didn't have a choice, otherwise we would have ended up being pulled back without the girls." _Donatello_ said as he walked up to Katherine and pulled both girls into his arms. "We were so worried about you." He said into their hair.

"The demons took Katherine." _Michelangelo _said to her as he too took the girls into his arms.

"And why is that any of our business?" She inquired.

"What do you mean why is this any of your business?" Raphael roared in frustration as he strode up to her. "They took you Katherine, you are in Hell right now!" She tipped her head to the side and looked at him as he reached out and touched her face. "How do we save you?" He asked her desperately.

"Don't touch her." _Raphael _growled at him.

"Jealous of yourself Raphael, that is amusing." She said as she looked into his brother's eyes.

"I am not Katherine." She said to him.

"Bullshit." He said to her. "I don't know what the hell happened to you, but I know it is you!" He growled.

She leaned into him as if she was smelling him. She pulled back staring into his eyes. She frowned. "You are ringing." She whispered in surprise.

_Raphael _and _Leonardo's _eyes widened while _Michelangelo _looked at Raphael thoughtfully.

Raphael's eyes widened in shock.

"How it this possible?" She asked him tipping her head to the side and frowning.

"Well Leo rings for you, so why can't he ring for her?" _Michelangelo_ said with a shrug as he and his brothers began dressing themselves in black kimonos.

"Other mommy is just like you." Starbright said happily.

Katherine's frown deepened and she strode over to where he and the rest of his brothers stood. He looked at her in shock as she leaned in and smelled him. He looked at her ears. He reached up and touched one which flicked under his touch. The black fur was soft and velvety. _Starbright's mom really did have kitty ears and a fluffy kitty tail._ He thought to himself. "What happened to you Katherine?" He whispered.

She ignored his question and leaned in to smell Michelangelo. She pulled back and took one look at Donatello and grabbed him by the front of his shirt hauling him over to Raphael.

"What is it Darkness?" _Donatello_ asked.

"She's touched his soul." She said as she put Donatello next to Raphael. "More than touched it actually, he's hers" She mumbled.

"What do you mean Raph is ringing? What do you mean she's touched Donny's soul. And what do you mean Donny's hers?" He asked them in confusion.

She again ignored his question as she seemed to think.

"Is it the goddesses?" _Donatello _asked.

"No." Katherine said. "I felt the presence of stars, but if Starlight was standing with Katherine then that would mean..." She paused again in thought.

"But how would that even be possible. She should have burnt out long ago. How would she even still exist?" _Donatello _asked.

Katherine flicked her tail in thought. "There is the possibility that it is the result of universal ripples." She said finally.

Raphael roared. "Okay, I want to know what the hell is going on! I'm tired of standing here doing nothing!"

"They aren't us Raph." Donatello said suddenly.

"What do you mean they aren't us Donny. I got eyes in my head, they are us." Raphael insisted.

Donatello shook his head. "Oh they are us, they are just another version of us. Look Raph, he doesn't have the same scar that I do." Donatello said as he pulled down the neck of his shirt revealing the scar from his bullet wound. _Donatello_ pulled his arms out of his kimono letting the top fall down to hang around his waist. His flesh was riddled with scars, but none looked like the scar on his brother's chest. "They come from a parallel universe." Donatello informed them.

"A parallel what?" Raphael asked in confusion.

"A different version of our world. It may have had similar experiences and situations, but their world was shaped by different forces than what has shaped ours." Donatello said to Raphael who still looked confused.

"Think of it this way." _Donatello_ began. "We are the same, just from different Earths. Like Mikey's comics. When the Silver Sentry met his alter ego from a parallel universe, except instead of being good he used his powers for evil and was the Dark Sentry."

"Golden Sentry and his parallel self the Dark Sentry." Michelangelo said nodding. "Issue 78 _From the Dark._"

"Wait, yours is the Golden Sentry?"_Michelangelo_ piped up in question as his baby brother gave a slow nod.

Donatello looked at _Donatello_. _Donatello_ shrugged. "It was the only way I could explain it to them. Leo got it of course, but Raph and Mikey, didn't."

Raphael closed his eyes. "So they are us, but not future versions of us, just different versions of us from a different Earth, and she is Katherine but a different version of Katherine." Raphael said slowly.

_Donatello_ rubbed his face. "We never met Katherine." He said softly. "We know _of_ her, but we never met her, which is why it is strange that you have."

"Katherine is standing right there. I don't know why she looks like she is part cat, and has wings, but I know that is Katherine. I can feel it." Raphael said desperately.

"Mommy is Darkness." Starbright and Starlight piped in.

Katherine sniffed the air. "It is a long story." She said distractedly. "But, Katherine Brooks was murdered, let me see...5633 years ago, give or take a decade." She said as she drifted away from the group sniffing the air.

A horrified lump formed in Leonardo's throat at her pronouncement. His mind was staggered and confused. She walked over to the couch and reached over the back of the couch. She grabbed something in her hand and held it out.

Leonardo and his brothers stepped back in horror, while the other versions of themselves groaned. Katherine held up a rotting human head. She held it by its brown greasy hair as pieces of flesh sloughed off and fell to the floor.

She brought the head up to her face and glared at it. "Well I suppose looking at his decomposition, we have been gone for approximately a week and a half." She said.

Michelangelo made gagging sounds.

"But Darkness we were only gone 20 minutes." _Donatello _protested.

Katherine nodded. "Robert." Katherine said to the head. "Robert." She repeated as she shook the head.

The head's eyes opened. _Donatello_ passed Michelangelo a bucket as Michelangelo lost his lunch as they stared at the head in horror.

The head's cloudy blue eyes opened wide in surprise. "M...m...m...Mistress." He stuttered in shock. "You're back!" He said happily.

"Robert, what are you doing in here?" Katherine asked. "And more importantly, where is the rest of you?"

The head swallowed eyes going wide in fear. "I'm sorry Mistress." He wailed unhappily.

"Robert I have told you not to let Cleas and Féirín take you apart and hide pieces of you. You know how you start to rot, look, you are falling apart everywhere." She growled.

"I'm sorry Mistress." He wailed as he somehow managed to bob back and forth by his hair.

"Do you remember what happened the last time they decided to hide pieces of you all over the Castle?" She asked.

"Yes Mistress." He responded gloomily.

"It took days for the Hell horses to digest you and I am not putting you back together again if they have fed you to them." She said angrily.

"They didn't feed me to the Hell horses on purpose, they just didn't know they would eat me." Robert defended.

"Robert. Where is the rest of you?" She asked again as she shook him.

"I don't know." He wailed. "The young Masters have forgotten about me!"

Katherine sighed. "Cleas, Féirín, get in here right now." Katherine barked in a low irritated voice.

"Okay." Michelangelo said into the bucket. "What is that thing?"

Katherine looked at him. "Robert is a sentient zombie. In other words he doesn't go around wanting to dismember and eat flesh like the other zombies in the basement. He actually has a mind, sometimes." She said shaking the head. "Unfortunately because Cleas and Féirín raised him, he has split loyalties. His loyalty should be to me, but he can't say no to Cleas and Féirín. You are not their toy Robert." She growled.

"Who are Cleas and Féirín?" Leonardo asked as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that the woman that looked so much like Katherine was not her, she was holding a zombie's head, there were apparently more of them, and at one time the horses really had eaten Robert or Bob as Starlight and Starbright had called him.

There was a bang as two figures tumbled into the room in the middle of everyone. Two young turtles who looked to be around 4 years old looked up at Katherine's double. One young turtle was dressed in red pants with a white button up shirt. He wore a black eye patch over his left eye, and a red kerchief around his neck and a blue bandana on his head. The other young turtle wore green pants a black shirt, a white eye patch over his right eye, a green kerchief around his neck, and an orange bandana on his head. Both had paper maché masks pulled up on top of their heads which looked to be human faces with blonde hair. Their brown eyes looked at the assembled group in confusion.

"Mommy!" They shouted happily as they dove at her. "Hey you found Bob. We were playing pirates!" The one with the white shirt said as he plucked Bob from his mother's hand.

"I found a piece of Robert. Where is the rest of him?" Katherine's counterpart asked sternly.

The two turtles looked at each other and looked at her. They smiled angelically. She closed her eyes in resignation. "How many times have I told you two not to go and pull pranks on your Auntie Mon, you know how upset she gets." She groaned.

The young turtle's attention had already wandered away from their mother and were now looking at them. "Starlight, Starbright, you're back! Did you have fun? Was it a great adventure? Were you scared? Who are they and why do they look like the daddies?" They asked together in a steady barrage of questions as they walked over and latched onto M_ichelangelo's_ leg.

"No it was not fun, it was scary!" Starbright said angrily striding up to the young turtles. "Do you know how hard it is making a mortal body? It's hard. And we couldn't figure out how to make our wings real, so we didn't have wings for the entire time we were there! We were lost until the daddies found us only they weren't actually our daddies, and it was really confusing, and we were chased by demons and Hellhounds. And then there was this bad angel who possessed other daddy and he took a swipe at us with his sword and and it was all your fault Trick and Treat!" Starbright said angrily as she hit the turtle wearing the black shirt. Starbright pouted but then yawned.

"Astrumlucidus, don't hit your brother." Katherine admonished. "You are all in trouble. You know you weren't supposed to be up here. You can blame your brothers all you want but if you had not been hiding up here in the first place then they would not have sent you to a parallel universe."

"But mom..." They all whined.

"Don't you dare but mom me." She growled revealing sharp canines. "You four are going to be cleaning out the stables for a week."

"But mom..." They whined.

"And as for you two." She said turning her full attention to the two young turtles who cowered behind _Michelangelo's_ leg. "Give me Robert." She held out a hand. The turtle in the white shirt reluctantly pulled himself from behind _Michelangelo's _leg and gave her the Zombie's head. "Robert if you let them take you apart again I will personally bind you back into your grave, do I make myself clear?" She said in a low dangerous voice.

"Y...y...yes Mistress." Robert said in a frightened voice.

"And you two know better than to take him apart. It is bad enough having to find all of the pieces of the skeletons you two hide around the Castle. Which judging by your guilty expressions I am guessing you were playing fishing for bones in the Sacrificial Chamber again. Well, you will have to get all of the bones out of the pool of blood and put them back in their graves _before_ you go to bed. As for your punishment, if you ever take Robert apart again, I will take away your masks for a month, do I make myself clear?"

The two turtles gasped as they clutched the masks to their heads pulling them down over their faces. Their forms shimmered and instead of two young turtles there were now two young boys with blonde hair and freckles. Turtle masks appeared on their heads. "Now say hello to our guests."

"Hello." The two boys grumbled as Leonardo and the rest of his brothers let out a gasp.

"This is Cleas," She pointed to the white shirted boy. "And this is Féirín. Or Trick and Treat as they are usually called." She said with a quirk of her lips at their obvious shock. "You of course have met Astrumlucidus and Astrumlumen, also known as Starbright and Starlight."

She smiled. "You of course know yourselves, and I am Darkness." She lost her smile. "But there is much to do and explain. You four it's time for bed. Sunrise is approaching."

"But mom." They whined.

"They will still be here tomorrow night. Now it has been a long night and it is time for bed. And you two still have skeletons to clean up." She said.

"But mom!" Trick and Treat protested. "Dad we don't really have to go to bed do we? Starlight and Starbright just got home." They asked _Michelangelo._ _Michelangelo_ looked down at his sons and shook his head.

"Listen to what your mother says. You know what happens when you try to stay up during the day. Time to clean up and then it's off to bed." _Michelangelo_ said as he began herding the children towards what looked to be a set of elevator doors.

"Azazel. I have need of you." Darkness said.

_Michelangelo_ stood at the elevator doors. They opened and a man was pulled out of the elevator by a little girl who looked to be about two.

"Daddy!" She squeaked in delight as she launched herself at Donatello her delicate golden black tipped butterfly wings opening to their full span. Donatello caught the little girl up in his arms in shock. The little girl wrapped pudgy arms around his neck.

She pulled away and looked at Donatello. She had glossy black hair that fell in waves to her shoulders, black cat ears twitched on the top of her head. She had pale skin and large violet eyes. She tipped her head to the side and frowned. She patted Donatello's cheek and smiled. "It will all be okay. Down." She said as she began to wriggle from Donatello's grasp. Donatello set her down as the little girl ran to _Donatello_ who picked up his daughter and pulled her into a hug.

"Say hello Hitsuzen." Darkness said to her daughter.

"Hello." She said happily from her father's arms.

Donatello studied the little girl in _Donatello's_ arms seemed to shake himself out of whatever it was he was thinking. He turned and focused his attention on the man who kneeling on one knee head bowed before Darkness. Leonardo looked at the man his younger brother was looking at. He wore brown khaki shorts and a bright blue Hawaiian shirt, and brown sandals. He had sun bleached blonde hair, a golden tan and eyes as blue as his shirt.

"Welcome back, My Lady Darkness." He said to her.

"Hey Sam." Raphael said to him.

Sam smiled. "Raph, Leo, Don." He said with a smile.

"Stand up Azazel and tell me what has transpired while we were gone." Darkness said to him. As he stood his form shifted and changed.

His clothes were replaced by black kimono robes. A serpentine tail moved slowly from side to side. Black membranous wings were ruffled and then tucked in close to his body. Black horns jutted from his forehead. His skin changed to a dark grey.

"The gods and goddesses of the nightly heavens are in panic over the tear you created through space and time. They of course do not know who was responsible, but they are setting the other gods to panicking." He said with worry.

Darkness rubbed her temples in frustration. "Well, we shall just have to deal with it later." She said with a shrug. "Another tear will be made, but perhaps we can figure out a way to mask the tear. Once the gods realize the tear has been sealed they will settle down."

"I know you." Raphael growled suddenly.

Everyone turned and looked at Raphael in confusion. "You look different but I would recognize that voice anywhere, demon. You killed her!" Azazel/Sam looked at him in confusion. "You killed Kaethryn!" He yelled as Leonardo held his brother back.

"Azazel killed Kaethryn?" Darkness asked in shock. She then frowned. "Astrumlucidus said that Leonardo was possessed by an angel."

A young man appeared in front of Darkness. He had blood red hair, bright green eyes and caramel coloured skin. He wore robes the colour of his hair. He bowed at the waist. "Castellum?" She questioned.

"We are shifting My Lady." He said in a low voice.

"Great." Darkness grumbled. "Wait, what cycle are we in?" She questioned.

"We shift to the mortal realm." The young man informed her.

"Good, we wouldn't want to kill our guests by shifting into Death's realm. Thank you Castellum." She said to him.

The young man disappeared. "My Lady Darkness." Azazel said to her.

"I know Azazel." She grumbled.

"The gods of T'lae-ran are still waiting for Marwolaeth Yn Annwyl to either become the new God of Nightmares or for her to bestow the godhede on someone. The Nightmare godhede is one of the most powerful godhedes on T'lae-ran second only to the two goddesses of magic Dielucere and Diemortia. The power vacuum is being felt." Azazel insisted.

"I am very aware Azazel." She held out her hand. A black butterfly with gold tipped wings pulled itself from where it had been emblazoned on her chest. Leonardo had thought it had just been a design on her robes, but it wasn't. It flew to her hand where it slowly opened and closed its wings.

The butterfly returned to the spot on her chest. "One problem at a time Azazel. Donatello." She said looking at _Donatello._

"I'll take her to bed." He said as carried Hitsuzen over to Darkness. She gave her daughter a hug and a kiss. _Donatello_ looked at her seriously and frowned.

"We need to put the girls to bed." _Leonardo_ said as he and _Raphael _walked towards the elevator door.

"Raph, take Hitsuzen." _Donatello_ said softly.

_Raphael_ frowned. "Donny?" He questioned. _Donatello_ looked at him and _Raphael_ nodded. _Donatello_ watched them enter the elevator. He grabbed Darkness by the arms. "What didn't you tell me?" He asked angrily, worry lacing his words.

She looked at him. "I put it off as long as I could." She said softly. Blood began to trickle from between cupids bow lips. "I need to fall back into the darkness." She whispered as black shadows began creeping into her eyes. The pinpoint brightness of tiny stars forming in her eyes. Her lip were beginning to turn blue.

"Don't you dare." _Donatello_ said as he shook her. Ice began forming on his hands. "Darkness, stay with me. Please, please stay with me." He pleaded. "Damn it!" He swore. "Darkness! Damn it Katherine, I'm not letting you go, so if you don't snap out of it, you are going to kill me!" He shouted at her as he shook her again. Ice had worked its way up to his elbows, he clenched his teeth together in pain.

"What's wrong with her, what's happening?" Leonardo asked, as he wondered why _Donatello_ had suddenly started calling Darkness Katherine if she wasn't.

"I don't know." _Donatello_ said desperately. "I know this was hard for her, but I don't know why she's bleeding. Darkness!"

A black mist appeared behind Darkness. The mist solidified into an imposing figure. Black faded robes encased the tall thin figure. Grey wings enfolded Darkness as skeletal arms wrapped themselves around her body. Leonardo watched in horror as the literal figure of Death wrapped Darkness up in his arms.

Leonardo's world spotted as he caught Michelangelo before he fell boneless to the ground.

* * *

><p><strong>I know right! everyone is probably WTFing right now. Well it is a fantasy after all. hehe<strong>

**And now so many questions!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well now that I have completely confused everyone...more confusion ensues! LOL So I hope the italic brothers names is working out okay, so far no complaints that no one can understand who is talking. **

**Also as a note, since these two wolrds are now colliding as it were, you are also going to be dealing with the counterpart's world and their thoughts and feelings. They tend to talk like you should know what is going on, but they do eventually get around to explaining everything, Darkness likes to be a tad (a lot) mysterious. So you get to find out what is going on when our heroes do.;)**

**Also a big giant thank you to all of my reviewers for your awesome support! thank you to I love athrun, forgottenforever, StarlitLoveHateRelationships, Tanny. Lilly, and ms. rebel. So thank you again!**

**p.s I am shoving a lot of info into this chapter, so I hope it makes sense! (also long chapter I apologize)**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

**_Donatello _**broke the ice that encased his arms. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you keep her here?" He asked Death.

_Yes_ He toned in _Donatello's_ head.

Ice began to form on Death's arms. "Darkness!" He yelled at her. "Come back to me." He pleaded softly.

Darkness' head rose and she looked at him. Green eyes began to fight the dark for dominance.

Darkness blinked and her green eyes blazed, her skin became luminous as if lit from within by pale light. She looked at him as emotions rolled around in her eyes. There was bloodlust and a barely controlled need for violence. She was trying to claw her way back to reality, trying to remember what it was to be human-ish. To not be a being of nothingness. It meant that whatever she had just done, she hadn't fought being Darkness, as she had when they had crossed worlds. At this moment she had become The Darkness, which was why she was having a hard time coming back.

She stepped out of Death's grip and _Donatello_ had to resist taking a step back. She would get herself under control in a moment. She took a deep breath and looked at their counterparts. Leonardo was supporting Michelangelo who had fainted. Raphael was looking pale, as was his own counterpart. There was blood on Donatello's shoulder as well as Michelangelo's leg.

His eyes widened. "Crap" He said. "Darkness, look at me." He said to her. Her eyes slid from his counterpart. She looked at him and walked into his arms.

"I'm okay, but Ryn is trying to rise." She whispered as she clutched him tightly. Her body stopped glowing as she repressed the need for blood and violence. He knew what it was she would need today.

He clutched her tightly."We almost lost you." He said softly.

She smiled and put a hand against his cheek. "I will always find my way back to you Donatello. As long as you are here to pull me back, I will come."

"You nearly didn't this time." He growled. "It took Death to drag you back."

"I wasn't going far. I promise. But the tear needed to be addressed, and it was getting to be too painful for me to ignore anymore." She said looking down at the droplets of blood that lay dark against the blue of her robes.

"Darkness." He whispered in horror. He closed his eyes in agony. "You knew. Why didn't you tell me that when we created the tear we would be ripping you apart?" He growled at her.

"What choice did we have Donatello?" She asked him as she looked over her shoulder. "Is there something that required my attention Death?" She asked the 6 foot skeleton standing behind her.

_No. I felt you needed my presence, my love. _Death's voice toned.

Darkness smiled over her shoulder at Death. "Thank you. I did need you." She said to him.

Donatello studied Death. Death was the only one who could keep Darkness from drifting too far into the dark. For some reason he was able to keep her anchored to this world, which was ironic considering that Death was...well, death, and excelled at cutting souls away from their anchors.

He continiued to study Death. It was hard to tell what Death was thinking or feeling. Of course it wasn't as if Death really understood emotions, but he was getting there, he was learning. Unfortunately for him and his brothers this meant that Death had fingered out that he was in love with Darkness. And of course Darkness being what she was, loved Death in return. But he wasn't exactly sure how she loved him, mother, lover, sibling? He wasn't sure, and honestly didn't want to know. Darkness loved him and his brothers, that was all he needed. Besides, it wasn't as if he had to worry about Darkness taking Death as a lover.

Death bowed and vanished.

He turned his attention to the four wilting brothers, who looked as if they were about to go into shock. "You four had better sit down before you fall down." He told his younger counterparts. They managed to stumble to the couch hauling the still unconscious Michelangelo with them.

He looked back at Darkness. "We'll find another way. I won't have you falling into the dark again. I won't have you injuring yourself anymore." He growled.

"We do not have a choice Donatello. It is the best way to travel to the other universe, there is always a price, you know this, and I know this." She said softly.

"Your life is not worth it." He said angrily.

"We we cannot keep them here." She motioned to the brothers on the couch."They need to be returned, and since they are here, and we will be going back anyway, we might as well help them with their quest to save Katherine. You know that they need our help."

"Darkness." He said with resignation. His wife tended to be headstrong, stubborn and obstinate. Once she decided on a course of action there would be no swaying her. He looked at the brothers on the couch again. It wasn't as if he didn't want to help them, he just didn't want to lose his wife in the process.

"Donatello." She said to him softly grabbing his chin and turning his face to look at her. "I cannot die. This body can be Destroyed, but I can never truly die. The only one with the power to Destroy me is Light." She said with a smile.

"If you fall into dark never to rise again, you will be lost to us and I could not bear it." He said wretchedly. A thought struck him then. "You aren't going to tell them." He said in surprise.

"Of course not Donatello. And you are not going to tell them either." She said to him.

"Darkness, you can't keep this from them, especially if this is as dangerous as I think it is. As much as I want to help them, I can't lose you again." He said to her.

"We have no choice Donatello. Do you think you can figure out a way to open a portal between the two worlds in less than four months? Four months is all the time we have before we shift again and they would die." She said pointing to their counterparts.

His eyes fell upon the other version of himself. He looked at him thoughtfully. "Maybe. Two geniuses are better than one. He might be able to help me figure out a way, perhaps recreate what it was that Trick and Treat did that sent Starbright and Starlight through in the first place."

She sighed. "Astrumlucidus and Astrumlumen are stars Donatello."

"Yes, but you are Darkness so you should have been able to slide through, but you had to punch a hole through, so what did they do?" He pondered as his mind worked furiously. He looked again at his pale counterpart who was slumped on the couch. Michelangelo had finally regained consciousness. His brothers gently talking to him.

_Donatello _walked over to the kitchen and poured a glass of water which he handed to Michelangelo.

Donatello looked at Darkness. "What are you?" He asked softly. He studied himself. He could see the wheels turning in his other self's head as he was coming up with and discarding theories about what Darkness was.

Darkness looked at the elevator and grimaced. "We have company." She said as she lifted up Robert's head from where she had placed it on the table.

Michelangelo turned a sick shade of grey, but managed not to lose any more of his stomach contents.

A 12 year old Japanese girl stomped out of the elevator holding a large green sack. She had long black hair pulled into pigtails on the top of her head. She wore a grey and white sailor school girl uniform shot with red.

She dropped the sack in disgust and stomped over to Azazel. "Demon!" She yelled. "My bathtub. I found bits and pieces of that Thing in my bathtub, and I can give you three guesses as to who put him there and the first two do not count!" She said angrily. "I don't have the time to be cleaning up Trick and Treat's messes!" She said as she stomped her foot. "Do you know you are shifting at the moment. I was lucky I managed to make it here before the shift began, and now I am stuck here until the shift is over! You are supposed to be watching them while My Lady Darkness is away and..."

"Hello Mon." Darkness said with a smile.

Mon stopped and looked at Darkness in shock. She grinned and began jumping up and down clapping her hands in excitement. "You're back!" She said with happiness. "Did you find Starlight and Starbright? Are they back? What happened?" She asked as she spotted their counterparts sitting on the couch.

"Raph, Leo!" She squealed as she ran over and threw herself into Raphael. She reached over and pulled Leonardo into a hug.

Leonardo and Raphael looked at each other in shock, and looked in confusion at the girl sitting in Raphael's lap.

"Hey Donny, hey Mikey, so how'd your bio suits work, did you kill anything, meet any monsters?" She asked _Donatello _over her shoulder. She stopped looked at the other Donatello. She blinked. She fell off Raphael's lap and stared at them in horror and looked to Darkness. "What happened to them, why are they mortal? And why are there two Donnys?"

"Mon, calm down. We found Starlight and Starbright, they are fine and they are being put to bed right now. As for them, parallel universe." Darkness said with a wave of her hand at them.

"Oh." Mon said as she stood up and looked at them with interest.

Darkness looked at Robert.

"I'm sorry about the mess Mon." Darkness apologized.

Mon gave a brittle smile. "Oh, it's fine." She lied.

Darkness laughed as she walked over to the sack Mon had brought with her and opened it. The putrid smell of rotting flesh rolled out from the bag. Darkness turned away in revulsion. "Alright Robert, time to put you back together again." Darkness held out her hand as the flesh and bone began to crawl and roll from the sack. _Donatello _heard more gagging from Michelangelo. Not that he could really blame him, putting Robert back together was disgusting.

She put Robert's head on the ground. Flesh began to reform on bone and realign itself into the proper position. Robert looked down at himself and sighed in relief. "Thank you Mistress." He said with a flourishing bow.

Robert no longer looked like a half rotten corpse. He looked like a regular human dressed as he was when he had died. He was about 20 years old with sandy blonde hair brown eyes and an easy smile. He wore the clothes popular during the 1800's; buff coloured breeches, knee high black riding boots, bottle green coat thrown over a dark blue vest, white shirt and cravat artfully tied around his neck.

Mon walked over to the loveseat and plopped herself down. She pulled a laptop from thin air and began typing furiously.

"Busy?" Darkness asked with a smile.

Mon puffed out a breath. "When am I not busy?" She asked her. "And like I said, now I am stuck here." She grumbled.

Death didn't have a problem with the shift, but Mon did. She could leave, but she said it took up way too much energy to make it worth it.

The elevator doors opened and his brothers walked in. _Donatello _stepped away from Darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Darkness<strong> sat down in front of the younger versions of her men.

"What's wrong with them?" _Michelangelo _asked as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Death popped in for a moment. It shook them up a little." Darkness said to him.

"Wimps." _Michelangelo _said with a chuckle.

"Hey Leo."_Michelangelo _threw over his shoulder at his brother. "Can you even remember being that young?" He questioned. "How 'bout you Raph, oh wait that's right, you are that young." He said with a smile.

"Shut it Mikey." _Raphael _growled.

"What's a matter Raph? Is my little baby brother sensitive about his age?" _Michelangelo_ asked.

"That's it!" _Raphael _roared as _Michelangelo_ let her go and danced away. _Raphael _hit him hard in the shoulder.

"Ow." _Michelangelo_ said. "That all you got, seemed a little babyish to me." _Michelangelo _said with a devilish grin.

"Come here and say that Mikey." _Raphael _launched himself on top of _Michelangelo._

"I don't care how old they are, they are still 8 years old...if that." _Donatello_ said with a sigh. "Welcome to the madhouse by the way." _Donatello _said as he examined each of the other brothers in turn making sure they were alright.

Michelangelo groaned. "Me and Raph fighting. That is the only thing that has made sense so far tonight." He grumbled as he clutched his head.

"Robert you can go. Azazel, get our guests some new clothes. Their spilt blood is making my teeth tingle." She said as she turned her attention back to their counterparts.

"We've been dropped into the Twilight Zone." Michelangelo grumbled.

Raphael stood up. "I don't care. We have to get Katherine right now. She is in Hell and we need to get her, so just send us back and we will find some way to save her."

Darkness shifted her focus to Raphael. _Michelangelo _and _Raphael _finally stopped pummelling each other and came to join the conversation.

"Yeah, how you think you're going to do that genius?" _Raphael_ asked Raphael.

Raphael stalked up to _Raphael._ "What's your problem?" Raphael asked.

"I don't like you." _Raphael_ growled.

"You know when I joked that the world was only big enough for one Raph, I didn't realize how right I was." _Michelangelo _said as he crossed his arms a smirk on his face.

"Shut it Mikey!" Both Raphael's said without taking their eyes off each other.

"Raphael." Darkness said.

"What?" They both answered. Darkness sighed. "My Raphael." He looked at her.

"You should be thanking him for taking such good care of Starlight for us." She said reasonably.

"Yeah, but he _is_ me." _Raphael _growled.

"Stop being jealous Raphael. So our daughter got attached to him. He is you, so that is enough, we have more important things to talk about and explain. I am literally holding on by a thread here Raphael." She said to him as she fought against the Beast inside her, fought against betraying the flicker of orange that would seep into her eyes. "I am tired and I am having a hard time holding onto that tiny little piece of me that remembers what it was like to be mortal. So, you will kindly refrain from wasting any more time." She growled at him.

All anger left _Raphael's _face as he looked at her in concern. He searched her face as he sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap. "I'm sorry." He whispered into her hair.

"Sit down Raphael." She said softly to Raphael. "It will take us some time to get back to your world, but you do not have to concern yourself with Katherine's safety. We will arrive back in your world the moment we left it, so for her, time is suspended at the moment." She said gently. "Do you feel better Michelangelo?" She asked him.

"No." Michelangelo said, an arm thrown over his eyes. "I don't understand any of this. If you are just different versions of us, how come your world is so messed up?" He asked.

She looked around her.

"Mikey." Leonardo admonished.

"I'm sorry Leo, I know it's rude, but Death was literally just standing right over there. There is a zombie, a demon, two little turtles who turned into little boys. Starlight and Starbright now have wings, so did that other little girl, Hitsuzen. And Katherine isn't even human. There are Hell horses, and walking around somewhere in this place is a Hellhound named Bask, and let's not forget that there was the young red haired human who appeared and disappeared. I'm sorry but where I come from, that is messed up."

"Where we come from, this is pretty messed up too." _Leonardo_ said softly as he sat down beside her and _Raphael._ "In your shoes, I'd probably be a little overwhelmed as well. I think we have forgotten what it was like to just be where you are in our lives. Living in a sewer, fighting the Foot and The Shredder, not to mention Hun and the Purple Dragons.

"Red." Leonardo said softly."We have Hun and the Red Dragons." Leonardo looked at _Leonardo_."So Starbright really is your daughter?" He asked_. _

_Leonardo's eye_ narrowed."Yes she is." He said curtly.

Darkness' eyes widened in surprise. "You thought she was yours." Leonardo looked at her, his face a blank emotionless mask. But of course even though he was a different version of her _Leonardo,_ he was still Leonardo which meant he could never hope to hide any feelings away from her. She frowned in thought. "You are older than my men were when I met them." She said slowly. "Is Katherine 21?" She asked. He looked at her in shock.

"Yes." He answered.

"And you are all...?"

"Nearly 26." Donatello supplied.

She looked at the pain in Leonardo's eyes. Katherine was in Hell, they had been dropped into a madhouse, and the little girl who he had hoped was his daughter wasn't. Even if they managed to get Katherine back in one piece and somehow bucked Fate, they would never be able to have children together. Which would have been something Leonardo would have known, but having Starbright fall into his lap would have given him hope, which they had just ripped away. And without hope, there is nothing.

"Why do you always have to do that. Even though you aren't her, how can you look at me and know everything I am thinking?" He asked angrily.

"Because you're still Leo." _Michelangelo_ answered. _Michelangelo _looked at him seriously. "What's Katherine like?" He questioned softly. "I had always wondered what Katherine was like before she was murdered and every horrible thing that happened to her shaped her into..." Michelangelo stopped and looked at her. He blushed. "Sorry Darkness that came our really badly."

"Nice one shell head." _Raphael_ said to him.

"I get what Mikey's getting at." _Donatello _said thoughtfully. "Goddess was a bloodthirsty killer. She gave no thought to killing and even less thought to obliterating someone's soul. She could destroy the world with a single thought and lived a gloomy, lonely existence filled with horror, fear, pain and loss. Goddess tended to be arrogant, condescending and was always hairs breath away from completely losing it and destroying everything at all times."

"Thank you Donatello. It is good to know what you really thought of her." Darkness grumbled.

_Donatello_ blinked. "I just made things worse." He said softly.

"So why did you love her?" Darkness asked him.

"Goddess was beautiful and powerful and amazing, but she was the loneliest person I have ever known. I had always believed that we were lonely, but we were wrong, at least we had each other, Goddess had no one but the company of Death. Goddess liked to smile. She was smart and funny. She tried to remember what it was like to be human. Tried to remember not to hold life so cheaply. Restrained her need for violence. And she was a god, hard not to be condescending and arrogant. She also always protected those she loved with no thought to her own safety. She always fought for what was Right." _Donatello_ said with a wry grin. "It's why I love you still Darkness." He said softly.

Darkness gave a half smile of acknowledgement. "The gods sang songs and ballads, wrote poems and stories about the tragic love story between your brothers and the lovely Andora, goddess of magic. The tragedy of her death made the gods salivate over the beauty of the sacrifice, and the finality of her death as the gods Destroyed her very soul. Even those who hated and feared your lovely goddess, wept at the beauty of the love story." Darkness frowned as she looked at the brothers.

"Yeah, but they don't know they didn't Destroy Goddess' soul." _Raphael_ put in.

"Yes, but it may also explain how they know Katherine." Darkness said pointing to their confused counterparts.

"Like a ripple in a lake, your story flowed out in waves echoing through universes so that on every Earth where they and Katherine exist, they must always be brought together.

Donatello looked at her in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"Okay," Raphael growled. "Does anyone else feel like we've been plopped in the middle of a movie and we missed the whole beginning, because I'm confused as hell."

"Who is Goddess?" Donatello asked.

Darkness smiled."I think the better place to start would be: What is Katherine?" Darkness said to them.

They looked at each other in confusion. "Katherine isn't human?" Donatello asked.

"Oh, she is human." Darkness said with a nod. "But her soul, well, her soul is another matter."

They looked at her in confusion.

Mon stopped typing on her laptop, her interest caught. "Ooo they have a Katherine too. That's exciting. Is their Katherine a First Soul?" Mon asked, looking at them eagerly.

"Yes." Darkness answered.

Mon slooked at her in shock. "A pure First Soul?" Mon questioned.

"Yes." Darkness answered again.

"But how is that even possible? How did she not burn out? How did she manage to stay pure for so long?" Mon asked in amazement. "I mean, I get how you managed to stay pure for so long, but..."

Darkness interrupted. "Mon, what would Hell want with a First Soul?"

Mon shrugged. "Big power in a First Soul, course they'd have to know a way to harness that kind of power without getting fried. Ask your former lovers, they'd know."

_Raphael _glared at Mon. "Mon don't call them her former lovers, you know I hate it when you do that!"

Mon looked at him in confusion. "But they are her former lovers."

_Raphael_ growled. "They were Kaethryn's former lovers."

"Yes, but she was Kaethryn once." Mon pointed out.

"But that was like..." _Raphael_ looked at her.

"Eight thousand." She supplied.

"That was like eight thousand years ago!" He yelled.

"So?" Mon question. "It doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"What do you know about Kaethryn?" Raphael asked softly.

"She died a horrible death. Stabbed through the back and thrown off a cliff to drown." Darkness said to him.

"In Katherine's memory, that demon, " He said pointing to Azazel who walked back into the room with a pile of clothes in his arms."Picked her up and stabbed her through the stomach, then threw her from a cliff."

"I see, well, we shall have to get a message to Lucy and Gabe then. Azazel if you would. Tell them it is urgent." Darkness said to Azazel.

"I will not be able to get a message through until after the shift." Azazel said to her.

"I know." She said with a soft smile. He nodded and bowed himself out after depositing the clothing in her lap.

"If you don't mind." She said giving the clothing to Donatello and Michelangelo. "I'm sorry but your blood smells too sweet and I want a taste, so please, do you think you could change?" Darkness asked.

"Ain't nothin nobody here ain't seen before. Don't mind Mon, she doesn't know what privacy is, do you Mon?" _Raphael_ asked looking at the girl on the loveseat.

Mon had begun typing again. "I just don't see what the big deal is." She said absently.

They quickly stripped and were newly attired black kimono like robes.

Darkness looked at their pile of clothes and they burst into blue flame. The turtles on the couch scrambled back but the flame had already burnt itself out.

Mon looked at the counterparts on the couch, then turned her attention back to her laptop. She spoke as she typed. "Katherine is a First soul, which means that before the gods or spirits gave humans souls, there were the First Souls. They were the stars that resided in darkness who saw life, and wanted to know it. These stars descended to Earth and became the first souls to inhabit human life. But because they were stars they tended to burn out after a while, and most of the First Souls did. Some tired of life and became stars again, only to burn out later." Mon put in helpfully as she furiously continued to type. "There are no First Souls left on this world, except for Darkness over there. As for being a _pure_ First Soul, it means that they have never been tainted by evil, and never been tempted by the weaknesses of humanity. It also means they've been stuck being an eternal virgin." The brothers looked at each other in shock. "That means that every single life they have ever lived, and we are talking millions of lives, never once have they ever been tainted or sullied by another living being. Basically no one else's DNA has mingled with hers. And in your Katherine's case, she will have been female in every life, which is bizarre, but there you go." Mon said with a shrug.

"Okay so you are tellin me that Katherine is a star. And you are also a star." He pointed to her.

"Yes." Darkness said with a smile.

Michelangelo shook his head. "I still don't understand any of this. I don't get what you are, I don't understand this place." Michelangelo mumbled.

Darkness looked at all of them and tipped her head to the side in thought. "Where do I even begin?" She said softly. "How do I crunch millions of years into something that is relatable?" She asked herself.

"Only care about what this has to do with Katherine." Raphael growled.

"You see," Darkness began. "There are gods and creatures and spirits and deities that exist in the worlds that seek but one thing, Power. It is hard for such beings to gain in power, but a rare few have the ability to harness the power of souls. All souls are not created equal. Demon souls are lesser than Angel souls which are lesser than human souls, and the list goes on. Souls of the gods are incredibly powerful but..."

_Michelangelo_ cut Darkness off. "Think of it like having to eat 40 extra large pizzas in one sitting, sometimes you just can't eat that much." _Michelangelo_ put in. Darkness looked at him with a raised eyebrow. _Michelangelo_ grinned. "What?" He asked innocently.

"I suppose so yes. It is hard to eat that much power. And a First soul is the epitome of Power. As Mon said, there is a lot of power in a First Soul and hard to harness that kind of energy without burning up."

"So what, Hell wants Katherine's soul?" Raphael said incredulous.

Darkness shrugged. "That I am aware of, Hell cannot harness that kind of energy." She said with a shake of her head. "But I could be wrong."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be the first time somethin' was after Katherine's soul." _Raphael_ growled. "Stupid gods and deities not leavin her alone. Twisting her Fate into little knots, killing her so many times she was lucky to still be sane." _Raphael_ said angrily.

Leonardo looked at his brothers and back to their counterparts. "I don't understand." He said to them.

"Well, by now if you already didn't know it, there are multiple worlds and universes and dimensions out there, and sometimes, things slip through." _Donatello_ began. "On our Earth two very powerful goddesses of magic, one light and one dark, slipped through from another dimension. Our Earth shares the same dimensional space as another planet called T'lae-ran. Which means the barrier between our two planets is too thin in places. Anyway these two goddesses wanted Power. They crossed over to Earth and found a pure First soul, who would in time eventually be Katherine."

"Yes but the goddesses didn't know that Katherine was a pure First Soul." Mon put in helpfully.

"No." Darkness said with a shake of her head."First souls were nothing but myth and legend. No one actually believed they existed." Darkness said. "These two goddesses rode her soul waiting for their opportunity to wake and consume her when she attained her full power. Many gods and Heaven did not wish for these two goddesses to wake and so Heaven was tasked with killing her before she was powerful enough for the two goddesses to rise. But Katherine's soul was lost, they were unable to track it down until it was too late. At 21 years of age Katherine had finally attained the age where her powers peaked. She was then ripped from her world and plunged into a war on the world of T'lae-ran. She fought on this world and I said, was murdered. But her lover would not let her go, and so he resurrected her, trapping and binding her soul and the souls of the two goddesses within her mortal body. Katherine had to fight against the goddesses consuming her soul. She fought and won, sealing the goddesses inside her, and the cost for her to do this, was the sundering of her very soul. Thus the memory of her human lives was lost, but she was imbued with all of the powers of the bound goddesses and she became Andora goddess of magic for the world of T'lae-ran. Your counterparts all loved her and they called her Goddess." Darkness finished.

"Yeah," _Raphael_ began. "When we met Goddess we had just defeated Tengu Shredder."

"Tengu Shredder?" Leonardo asked in confusion.

"Not important." _Raphael _said with a shake of his head. "Long story short, Goddess was doin' Heaven a favour and getting rid of a demon that had slipped through from Hell. Goddess could pass easily from T'lae-ran to Earth and back again. Oh, and if you want to know, T'lae-ran is this big magical place, any magical creature you can think of, dragons elves, vampires, werewolves, you get the picture, well this place has got it. Anyway Goddess, was crazy powerful, powerful enough that Hell wanted her dead."

_Raphael _closed his eyes and shook his head, opening them and squeezing Darkness tightly. "There was a civil war brewing in Hell and Goddess needed to stop it or else our world was going to go all Apocalyptic . So Goddess summoned up the biggest baddest, mothering power house of all time to kill 5 million demons. She summons up Darkness, and Darkness swallows the demon army, kills Goddess and Goddess' payment for having Darkness get rid of the demon army, is her soul." Raphael finished wretchedly.

"Hey Darkness you ever think about what it was like to kill yourself?" _Michelangelo_ asked thoughtfully.

Darkness rolled her eyes. "Technically Darkness didn't kill her. Darkness was just too powerful for her body to handle and so Goddess died." Darkness said.

_Donatello_ looked at their counterparts. "However, Goddess' soul still resided in Darkness, and if Darkness dared to rise up and attepmpt to tip the order and balance of the world, Goddess swore to fight against Darkness and she did. She fought against Darkness and won, and thus Goddess became Darkness." _Donatello_ finished.

"Of course the stories are way longer but you get the picture." _Michelangelo_ said to them.

_Donatello_ nodded. "So Katherine became Goddess who is now Darkness. Darkness likes to compartmentalize all of her lives. Katherine died, Goddess died. To her they are no more than past lives." _Donatello_ said softly.

"Isn't it romantic." Mon said dreamily. "Of course all of the gods think Katherine's soul was Destroyed and we keep it that way. The gods can't find out that she is Darkness. She is almost like a god of gods, it would probably drive them insane, and trust me when I say that the gods are already mostly there."

"Wait, you are saying she is darkness, like, literal darkness." Donatello asked paling slightly.

_Donatello_ looked at Donatello. "She is the beginning, and the end, nothing and everything."

Donatello's mouth dropped open in shock as his mind calculated the ramifications of such a thing. "So you are literally Darkness, the sentient form of Darkness?"

"Yes." She said simply.

"My brain hurts." Michelangelo said. "Why are you talking about gods and goddesses like they are no big deal? How can you be like a god of gods?"

Darkness looked at him and looked to _Leonardo _who had been as silent as his counterpart.

_Leonardo_ rubbed at the scarred side of his face. It seemed to be a habit with him now. His skin no longer itched, nothing hurt anymore, but he still scratched at the scars on his face. "We were mortal once." He began.

"What do you mean once?" Leonardo asked finally joining the conversation.

_Leonardo_ grinned humourlessly. "Before we died."

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><p><strong>I know, horrible place to end, but very dramatic don't you think? And I know, more questions! Hope this chapter wasn't too confusing. (it probably was) but that's okay because our turtles are just as confused. Please continue to read and I love getting reviews!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Long chapter, Hope you enjoy and a big thank you to i love Atrhun, forgottenforever and Rocky181 for your awesome reviews and support!**

**p.s swearing in this chapter.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4<span>

**Leonardo** looked at his older, scarred counterpart in shock as he felt his world tip a little more. He was trying to make sense of the fact that the woman who was Katherine was Katherine, but had died a few times since she had been Katherine. When she had met their counterparts she had been a goddess. He tried to wrap his brain around that and failed. His vision started to waver because his brain was coming up with too many questions and all the answers were too terrifying to contemplate.

"You're dead?" Michelangelo whispered. Leonardo looked at his kimono clad brother who looked as if he is going to faint, again.

"Well," _Donatello_ began, "Yes and no."

_Raphael _snorted. "What did you expect? Think about it. You are dealin' with Hell and demons. What, that's easy to take, but the thought of gods and our being dead tips the weird o' meter just that little too much?" _Raphael_ asked pulling Darkness in closer. Leonardo studied Darkness. There was something of Katherine in her, but when he looked into her eyes he saw the ancient being that stared back at him. She was a creature with the power to destroy worlds. Leonardo swallowed as a Beast rose up within her eyes and studied him.

Darkness blinked and the Beast disappeared. Maybe it wasn't a Beast, maybe it is the part of her that was Darkness. Darkness smirked at him. "Your first assumption was correct Leonardo. My soul has been sundered, and reformed. The mortal body Goddess inhabited was a mix of vampire, weretiger, werecat, werewolf and werecoyote. Hungers raged within me for Millennia. To remember what it is like to be human to be Katherine who is my tether to this world, I must also remember what it is like to...Hunger. To remember the human I must also remember the monsters." Ancient eyes looked at him. Too many lives were held within those green depths. "You cannot love Katherine if you fear my ancient eyes Leonardo."

He closed his eyes. He loved Katherine. He opened his eyes and looked into hers. She smiled softly at him then. She had Katherine's smile.

He looked at his other self who began to speak. "We knew when Goddess died. It ripped through us and tore us open. But Goddess' soul was mortal and we knew that dead did not mean gone. Raph believed that one day we would meet her again, even if he had to rip Heaven and Hell apart to find her." His counterpart began.

_Michelangelo_ cut in. "Then Raph here goes and gets himself killed, 5 years after Goddess dies. Hun sneaks up on him and stabs him right through the gut and dies in front of us." _Michelangelo _said to them. "That's why he looks younger, it's because he died young, well younger at least. Seven years later me and Leo get ourselves blown up. Leo'd managed to get blown up earlier. That's why he's not that pretty to look at anymore." Michelangelo said with a smile.

His counterpart glared, but then looked at Darkness who looked at _Leonardo_ with hungry, lust filled eyes. His counterpart blinked as an answering lust rose. The eerie thing was he knew that he and Darkness were having a silent conversation regarding what Darkness was going to do with all of the scars on his body. He turned his eyes away because it just made him miss Katherine even more.

"Then Donny here was..." He looked at Mon.

Mon didn't even look up from where she was typing furiously. He wondered what and who she really was because he was beginning to see that in this world, nothing was as it seemed. Everything was swathed in illusion, packaged in deceit and given a paper thin wrapping of reality.

"Crushed to death." Mon supplied.

"Right, so technically we are all still the same age, with Leo here as our big brother, and me as the youngest, but our bodies are stuck at the ages we died at, so Donny here is the oldest, he's 33, me and Leo are 32 and Raph is 25." _Michelangelo _said with a smile. "Right baby bro." He said to _Raphael._

"Say it again and you are going to regret it Mikey." _Raphael_ growled.

"But I guess we're verging on what, 38 ish I suppose, minus the thousand years our souls spent in Processing." He said with a shrug.

_Raphael_ rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to them. "When I died Mon here was my Reaper. It was her job to take me to the Underworld to 'Rest'." _Raphael_ paused as Leonardo looked at the girl typing in the laptop. The almost teenager was a Reaper. He returned his attention to _Raphael _who continued to talk. "Never made it. I wanted a body because I wanted to find Goddess, and if I couldn't find her, I was going to kill the angel who had taken so much pleasure in killing her for thousands of years. The thing is, you need a body to exist in this world, otherwise you are just a transparent soul. All I had to do was either become a slave to a god, or fight in a gladiatorial pit until I won myself a body. Guess what I chose?" He asked with a bloodthirsty grin.

"Long story short," _Leonardo _cut in. "We all managed to find each other, get bodies, save worlds and find Goddess, who is now Darkness."

"Which meant that when we all married Darkness and became her Consorts," _Michelangelo_ grinned. "We became...wait for it...gods." He said with a laugh. "Which is awesome. The best part though is that all of the other gods think that Darkness here killed us." Leonardo looked at him as if he was insane.

"He's right you know. That is the best thing for them." Mon said lifting her eyes from the screen. "Because the gods can't know what Darkness is, she is only known as Marwolaeth Yn Annwyl. Her touch will freeze and kill you instantly. She is blind and deaf and mute because at best, if she speaks, she will melt your brain, at worst, she will unmake you. Basically when she poses as Marwolaeth Yn Annwyl she is actually Darkness. Right now I'd say she's more what their goddess used to be. And if you wanted to know, that's why Darkness is dressed in so many layers of clothing. If you touch her skin when she _**is**_ Darkness, you're dead."

Leonardo nodded. They had seen the ice forming on both _Donatello_ and Death when they touched her.

"She's like a super hero with a secret identity. Only in this case her secret identity is that while she is Darkness, she isn't Darkness all the time. She can shift back and forth from being Darkness and being Goddess." _Michelangelo _said helpfully.

"Anyway," Mon said with irritation. "Death is Marwolaeth Yn Annwyl's consort, small 'c'. He speaks for her because she cannot. You see on this world they may be gods," Mon gestured to thier counterparts, "But they aren't powerful ones, and so to protect everyone we have spread rumours to make sure the other gods stay far away." Mon smiled mischievously. "So we dress them up from head to toe in those bio suits Donny designed and spread rumours. Like that she imprisoned their souls in the suits so they could never rest, to prove that she never feared the Golden Goddess, which was another name for thier Goddess. And the other gods, all of them feared her. Other rumours are that the suits are empty and just kept around as a reminder to all of what will happen if you try to touch her. That the suits are inhabited by horrible creatures so deformed by whatever Marwolaeth Yn Annwyl is that she keeps them hidden. Lots of fun rumours. There are only a select few that know who and what Darkness is." She finished with a shrug.

"So I don't get it, Death is your consort, but why?" Raphael asked. Leonardo looked at his brother.

"Death is mine." Darkness said softly. "As Life is to Light. He is a part of me as I am a part of him."

"So when Starbright said that Death was visiting mommy, that was why she wasn't bothered by it, because Death is here visiting her mother all the time." Donatello said in shock.

All of them nodded.

"So what are Starbright and Starlight. If you are now gods as you say, then that would make them...gods?" Leonardo asked softly.

"That is why you were able to have children." Donatello put in softly.

"That is correct." Darkness said softly. "It came as quite the surprise too." She said with a laugh.

"You should have seen their faces."_Michelangelo _said laughing. "Two parts fear one part horror, equal parts disbelief and fascination. It was like a giant hormone filled pissing contest in here until Darkness finally told us who the father was. Then we found out it was fathers, and back to giant pissing contest. It was hilarious." _Michelangelo _lost his smile. "But it was the most amazing thing ever to happen to us." He said with soft remembrance.

_Leonardo _and _Raphael,_ glared at their brother, but their faces softened at his last words.

Leonardo felt a knife drive into his heart and twist. They had never thought about children, and they had them, and he never would. He pushed the dark thoughts from his mind because they didn't belong there. He had more important things to worry about.

He looked into Darkness' eyes and knew she knew exactly what he had thought. Katherine was good, Darkness was better.

"Our children are not mortal, and they have not grown up in a mortal world. They see the world differently, and what may be horrifying to a mortal, is seen as ordinary to them." Darkness said with a shrug. "Astrumlumen is the goddess of godly wishes and Astrumlucidus is the goddess of mortal wishes. The gods however do not realize what they are, to them they are just stars. Cleas and Féirín are spirits of Samhain or I suppose you could say Halloween. Hitsuzen...we are as of yet unsure." Darkness said thoughtfully. She turned her gaze upon him. "Cleas and Féirín embody all of the elements of Samhain. They are the pranksters, the givers, the ones who walk hand and hand with Death and mark the beginning of the dark times of change. They blur the barriers between the worlds of the living, the dead and beyond."

"So are they really turtles or humans?" Michelangelo asked.

"Both, and neither. It is the forms they choose, they have only two for now, but I have no doubt later, they shall have more. Their masks are the source of their power, taking them away would strip them of their abilities without harming them..." Darkness frowned, then suddenly stood. She looked at _Donatello_ whose eyes widened as he caught whatever thought she had been working on while she had talked.

"It was them." _Donatello_, Darkness and Donatello all said in unison.

"It had nothing to do with Magi, well perhaps a small part, but it was the combined power of all of the children." _Donatello_ said in shock. 'I didn't think they were that powerful." He said in disbelief.

Darkness began to pace as everyone watched her. Her tail lashed from side to side, ears flat against her skull as she thought furiously. "I didn't think they were that powerful either." Darkness grumbled.

"Care to fill the rest of us in who aren't geniuses or ancient entities." Raphael grumbled.

_Donatello_ looked at them."Trick and Treat can thin barriers between the world of the living and the world of the dead. But there were many who believed that where the fae dwell, betwixt and between, these barriers were also thinned. So two children who can thin barriers between worlds, Starlight and Starbright are goddesses, but also wishing stars, and Hitsuzen, her name means Fated as in something that must happen. Throw in a godly scrying mirror and all that would have been needed was a wish." _Donatello_ said in awe.

"But I didn't think Hitsuzen was there." _Michelangelo_ said slowly.

"We were so panicked when the girls disappeared she could have been there and we just didn't know it." _Raphael_ said to him.

Darkness turned luminous green eyes on them. "Hitsuzen would not have had to be in the room." She said thoughtfully."You wished." She said to Raphael and himself. "If any of the others had wished the other children would have been gone, but it was your wish to be fathers that brought our daughters to you. Because you wanted to father Katherine's children, and in this world you did, but they needed to go there because they were meant to go there." She turned to _Donatello _"Sorry Donatello, we will have to get back to the other world the hard way." She said softly. He turned his head away, closing his eyes and nodding curtly.

Donatello nodded his head. "It makes sense. Leo stewed about it when he realized he wanted to be a father, and we finally figured out what Leo was stewing about, Raphael began stewing with wanting something he knew he could never have, and the girls dropped into the lair shortly after."

"And so events are playing out as they should." Darkness said thoughtfully. Leonardo got the impression that Darkness was sifting through every possible outcome and reality that could be created.

"So now what?" Raphael asked impatiently.

_Raphael_ looked at Raphael and shrugged. "We wait until we finish shifting, find out what Hell would want with Katherine, punch a hole back into your world and get Katherine back."

"What is shifting?" Donatello asked curiously.

"We are shifting." _Donatello_ replied. "This Castle, whose avatar Castellum was the red haired young man, is moving to T'lae-ran. This Castle straddles three plains of existence at once. It exists in the realm of gods in the godly city known as Darkrealm, it exists simultaneously on the mortal realm on the planet of T'lae-ran, and in the realm of Death. But although it exists within all three at once, it moves and becomes...more real, might be the best word for it, in one of the three realms. It shifts realms every four months." _Donatello_ answered. "Which is why we need to get you back before we shift again. We are not talking about shifting to an Underworld where you could go even if you are still alive, we are talking about shifting to Death's realm, and you could not survive there, you'd die." _Donatello _said seriously.

"How am I ringing?" Raphael asked softly, as if he needed to know, had stored the question away for later and decided he may as well ask because he was too scared not to know.

Darkness looked at them all and slowly sat in front of Raphael. She stared at him for a moment. "You already know what it means Raphael."

"No I don't, she didn't even know what it meant." He said to her softly.

Her eyes scanned theirs and sighed. "How can I explain this so it makes sense? " She asked. "First Souls are stars, but they are stars that have gained a mortal soul and body which is...unique. But because they are not a god made mortal soul it is possible that a First Soul will encounter another person whose soul rings for them. It would be...almost the equivalent to finding what mortals would term a 'soul mate', but not. It is so much more than that."

Leonardo felt the blood drain from his face. _Raphael was Katherine's soul mate?_ He thought in shock. He looked at his brothers all of whom were looking at Raphael with shock, sadness and hurt eyes.

Raphael paled and then got to his feet angrily. "So if I am her soul mate why doesn't she love just me, why couldn't she pick just me?" He shouted at Darkness.

Darkness sighed and stood. "In this world, my 'soul mate' is Leonardo." She said as she let _Leonardo_ enfold her in his scarred arms. "Soul mate isn't the right word, but it is the closest equivalent for what we have. It is complicated to explain. Also your soul does not ring _for_ her, like mine does with my Leonardo, instead her soul rings _with_ yours. But I believe part of the answer would involve her touching Donatello's soul, more than touching it I believe." Darkness said pointing at Donatello. Raphael looked at Donatello in shock.

"See in this world Goddess messed up." _Michelangelo_ said softly.

"She didn't mess up Mikey." _Raphael_ growled.

"Sure she did, she went and kissed your soul, marked you, and bound you to her so damn tightly that her dying nearly killed you." _Michelangelo_ said softly.

"Mikey." _Leonardo _warned.

"No, it didn't Mikey, Goddess died, I felt her die, that was it. Her heart stopped, her breath stopped." _Raphael_ began

"So did yours Raph." _Michelangelo_ growled at him.

"No it didn't." _Raphael _said angrily.

"Casue you know, because you were the one performing CPR on you for nearly ten minutes!" _Michelangelo_ yelled. _Raphael_ looked at him in shock.

"You died Raph. Your heart stopped and you stopped breathing, and there wasn't a damn thing wrong with you except that you were bound to Goddess and her death took you down with her."

"But, I don't remember...Why didn't you tell me?" _Raphael_ asked in shock.

"No one but you and Leo felt Goddess die, but we collapsed because we knew she was gone, because Leo told us she was gone, and we had spent nearly ten minutes trying to revive you. April and Casey came in when you finally started breathing again and your heart started beating, and you started screaming like a wounded animal. We didn't know you didn't know! And even if we did, when the hell were we supposed to tell you, because in case you forgot, you left!" _Michelangelo_ yelled.

_Michelangelo_ looked at his brother, anger glittering in his eyes."You walked away from us the day she died, the day you almost died! We thought that we did something to you. We thought that maybe by bringing you back you hated us, that you had found her and we had pulled you away. Why do you think Donny..." He cut off his tirade as he glanced at _Donatello._ "You never came back, not even when Master Splinter died. We thought you were trying to get yourself killed because you had found her, or found _something._ We dragged you back, and you hated us for it! And then when we finally did see you again, you up and died on us. Five years you were gone and we had thought that you were dead because we hadn't heard about you in so long. Then you come back and die, right there in front of us! Then you tell us that you weren't trying to kill yourself and that you were going to find Goddess. It was then we realized that you didn't remember dying, that you didn't know you had died! And then what did it matter after that? We all died eventually so when was it important for you to know that being bound to Goddess almost killed you?" _Michelangelo_ asked his silent brother.

"You spent seven years fighting in the pit, being ripped apart for the entertainment of the gods. They broke you and you are still fucking broken, so excuse me if we didn't think telling you you had died that night was important." _Michelangelo_ ground out angrily.

Everyone looked _at Michelangelo_ in shock. Apparently their _Michelangelo_ getting this angry and swearing was not a normal occurrence.

"I'm not..." _Raphael_ began.

"You're not what, broken? Damaged? Bullshit you aren't." _Michelangelo_ said as he vanished. He appeared suddenly behind _Raphael_ and touched his shoulder. _Raphael _flinched violently. Fear rode over _Raphael's_ face as he reached for his sais turning and blindly lashing out at _Michelangelo. Michelangelo_ managed to dodge _Raphael's _strike. "Fucking broken."

"Michelangelo that is enough." _Leonardo_ ground out.

"No Leo, it isn't." _Michelangelo _growled. "We kept from him the fact that we had to teach the children to not ever surprise him or ever approach him from behind because he would hurt them."

_Raphael _paled. He obviously hadn't been aware that this had been going on behind his back. "You would lash out instinctively trying to protect yourself. We can handle you, Darkness can handle you, but the kids can't." He said ruthlessly.

_Raphael_ looked as if he was going to faint.

"And now of course..."

"Enough Michelangelo." _Leonardo_ said as he let Darkness go and lay a hand on _Michelangelo's_ shoulder.

"But Donny..." _Michelangelo_ said desperately.

"I didn't know." _Raphael_ said in agony. "I didn't realize..." He said hollowly. "So what else are you hiding from me?"

They remained silent.

Darkness appeared behind _Raphael_ and grabbed his shoulder roughly. Fear ripped across his face.

"You smell like fear Raphael. Remember that." Darkness growled as she held him fast from lashing out with his sais. "We will discuss this later. It is not important right now." Darkness said as she let _Raphael_ go. _Raphael_ slumped onto a love seat, pain, fear, horror and betrayal rolling around in his eyes. "Michelangelo quit projecting."

"What?" _Michelangelo_ asked in confusion the anger dying from his eyes. Darkness pointed to an elephant standing in the corner of the room.

_Michelangelo _looked at the elephant and grimaced. The elephant disappeared.

"I'd really like to know how he does that." _Donatello_ said thoughtfully.

Darkness walked up to _Michelangelo _and pulled him into her arms. He went reluctantly as he buried his face in her hair. "Six years is a long time to be carrying around so much hurt and pain Michelangelo." Darkness said softly.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I didn't even know I was so angry." He said wretchedly.

"I had wondered what it was that would finally make you break Michelangelo." She said with a half smile.

He brushed his fingers softly over her cheek. "Why didn't you tell me?" He whispered.

"I'm supposed to tell you that you are still mad about something that happened while you both still lived? And I know you have been wanting to tell Raphael what we have been protecting him from, but I did not realize it was affecting you this much. We will tell him everything, okay?" She questioned him. He nodded. "As for what is between you and Raphael, that is between you and Raphael, not me. But I am glad you have actually realized your own feelings, and you and Raphael can have a nice talk or beat each other into a bloody mess, whichever makes you feel better, but later. Right now we have to discover what Katherine did to her Donatello." She said pulling herself from _Michelangelo's_ grasp.

"I don't get what just happened, but what has any of this to do with Donny?" Raphael asked.

Darkness turned her gaze to Raphael, then looked at his brother. "If she has bound him to her like I think she has, if she dies, she could take your Donatello with her."

Leonardo felt his blood run cold. "What do you mean?" He asked in a controlled voice. Donatello's eyes had widened and he had paled slightly.

"It was the shock of Goddess' death, the backlash of the bond being broken that nearly killed my Raphael, but the power she left behind in her mark is what allowed them to bring him back. But I need to see how bound Donatello is to Katherine." Darkness said as she walked over to Donatello. "What I can't understand is how she would have bound Donatello to her. It would have taken a great amount of power. Power I know that I as Katherine, never possessed." Darkness said thoughtfully. "But how and when did she bind you?" She asked.

"It was when I was dying." Donatello said softly. "Katherine pulled me back. I felt her hold on and grab me, pulling me away from the brink of death." Donatello said softly.

"I see." Darkness said thoughtfully. "That may explain it, but the power. She must have pulled and channelled an incredible amount of power." Darkness frowned as if she was thinking something. "Ah yes, the Tree."

She closed her eyes. Leonardo felt the ripple of power dance across his skin. It felt cold and empty of any warmth, any feeling, it just was. Darkness opened her eyes and looked at Donatello. He was bound from head to toe in golden chains.

"Holy shit." Raphael swore.

"Quite." Darkness agreed as she walked over to Donatello who was looking at himself. The chains moved when he did but the chains ran through him as well as around him. "There is no power to block the backlash if these chains break." She said to them. She frowned as if she was staring at something they could not see. "It is as I suspected." She said as she fingered one of the chains. "This is by far different than what Goddess did to my Raphael." Darkness looked at Donatello seriously. "I do not believe you have fully comprehended what you have agreed to Donatello." She said seriously.

Donatello looked at her in confusion.

"What does that mean?" Leonardo asked as he looked at his brother.

Darkness gave Donatello one last assessing looked and turned to him. "Simply. If Katherine dies, so too does Donatello." Darkness said softly as she waved her hand the golden chains disappearing. "She has double bound him."

"What do you mean double bound?" Leonardo asked her.

"You said that she pulled you back from death?" She asked Donatello who nodded. Darkness thought for a few moments. "She bound her soul to his." She said softly.

Stunned silence met this pronouncement. "So what does that mean?" Leonardo asked.

Darkness shrugged. "In order for her to pull Donatello back from death, she had to literally bind their souls together."

Leonardo looked at Donatello who was looking at Darkness in shock. Leonardo felt overwhelmed and heart sore but he was still unsure about what Darkness meant about her binding her soul to Donatello's, but her next words put all thoughts of this out of his head. "But that is not the binding you have to worry about. If those golden chain breaks, he will die."

"So how do we unbind him?" Leonardo asked angrily.

"You can't. The only one who can unbind him is Katherine, and I don't think even she can." Darkness said with a shake of her head.

"You are tellin me there isn't anything you can do?" Raphael said incredulous. "You are supposedly this big powerful god of gods, and you are telling me you can't undo what Katherine did to him?"

"Oh I could unbind him easily." Darkness said to them. "It would kill him, but I could do it." Darkness said with a shrug.

"It's okay Raph." Donatello said with a smile. "Kitten isn't going to die, we're going to get her back so we don't have to worry."

Raphael closed his eyes and nodded.

"I haven't heard that nickname in a very long time." Darkness whispered.  
>Everyone looked at Darkness who momentarily looked sad. <em>Raphael <em>reached out and touched her shoulder. "Darkness..." He began.

Darkness looked at him and stepped into his arms. "Katherine is dead Raphael. To me, all of her friends, her family to me they have been dead for nearly 6 thousand years. I could go and visit every single person I have ever known throughout all of my lives, but..."

"Darkness, you are still Katherine. No matter how much you claim differently you are still her. Her soul is still in there." _Raphael_ said to her.

Darkness smiled softly. "I love you too Raphael." She said pulling from _Raphael's _arms.

"Darkness?" _Leonardo _asked quietly. "What is all that?" He asked pointing to something the rest of them were unable to see.

"You can see that Leonardo?" Darkness asked in surprise.

"Yes." He said with a nod.

Darkness contemplated _Leonardo_ and nodded thoughtfully. Darkness then sighed. "You all did quite a number on Katherine." She said with a shake of her head as she began moving her hand as if she were winding something around it.

"What do you mean?" Leonardo asked softly.

Darkness sighed. "Poor Katherine, she must have been tormented by trying to choose between all of you." She said as she pulled back on whatever she had wound around her hand.

Leonardo felt something inside of him pull. "Grk." He said as he doubled over. It wasn't painful but if felt as if something inside of him was being tugged and it was uncomfortable. "What are you doing?" He finally managed to ask. He looked over at all of his brothers who were also doubled over.

"These are Death Bonds." Darkness said as she let go of whatever it was that she was holding.

Raphael looked at her in confused horror." What..." He began to ask but Darkness held up a hand silencing him.

"How many times have you stood over your brothers, hoping, wishing, and praying, for them not to die when they suffered grievous injuries?" Darkness asked him.

Leonardo shook his head. "Too many to count." He whispered softly.

"And so you believed that just the sheer force of your will was enough to keep one of your brother's from dying?" She asked.

He nodded, his throat getting tight. There had been too many close calls to count. Too many late night vigils held standing over a broken brother and willing them to take that next breath, for their hearts to keep beating just that little while longer.

Darkness nodded fingering something in the air. "Standing over someone on the cusp of Death, when their life hangs by that last thread, where it could go either way and even Death himself is unsure of the outcome, if that person lives, it creates a bond. It is not something you can see or feel, but it links you to that person, even if they are a stranger. However, your bonds are different from other Death Bonds in that each of you holds within you a certain amount of...Power. Call it magic, call it spiritual ability, it doesn't matter, it is all the same. You and your brother's are heavily bound to one another through these because whenever that scale may have tipped to favour Death, you managed to tip it just that little bit so that Life won out."

"So like what Kitten did to Donny?" Michelangelo asked in question.

Darkness looked at Donatello. "I believe Katherine walked into death for you and took back your soul. So no, not like what Katherine did." She said as Leonardo felt himself pale. "For you," She continued, "You stood vigil at Katherine's side at some point, touching her, willing her to live. All of you pushed on a scale that should not have tipped back towards Life, but did anyway."

Leonardo looked at his brothers trying to place a time. Raphael had literally pulled her back for death during one of her dreams, but... His eyes widened. "When Raph stabbed her. We all stood watch over her, kept pulling her back when she should have died." He said softly.

"Yes, but Katherine is so much more than _just_ a mortal. These bonds cannot be felt, are not supposed to be seen by anything or anyone but Death and gods of death, but because Katherine walked into death for Donatello and brought his soul back, she would have felt all of these cords and bonds all wrapping and weaving each of you so tightly together that it would have been impossible for her to separate all of you. With binding Donatello to her very soul, all of the bonds woven through and around you, to her, would have lit all of you up like a Christmas tree"

"So what she feels, what we feel, none of it is real?" Leonardo asked in a faint whisper.

Darkness blinked at him. "Oh, it's real. It's very real. But you see, even though Raphael's soul rings with hers, her soul is literally bound to Donatello's, and she would be able to feel both you and Michelangelo through the links of these Bonds. All of this would have no doubt been as overwhelming as it was confusing."

"So she could never choose." Leonardo whispered softly.

Darkness smirked. "I never did." She said with a smile. "But then, I have not been human in so very long, and my soul is that of a star. She and I are not limited in our ability to truly love more than one person. This said, if you force her to choose, she will, even though it would break her heart." Darkness ruffled out her wings. "Now if you will excuse me, I have much that needs to be done and I should like to make it to my bed before night falls again. I will see you all tonight. I do not know if you wish to sleep or not, but Michelangelo can show you the rooms you can use if you wish to rest. There is food and TV up here as well as a small training area. Michelangelo will also take you on a tour around the Castle if you wish." She bowed and then was gone.

He and his brothers looked at their counterparts. A sick ball of apprehension lodged itself in his stomach and stayed there.

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><p><strong>Hopefully many questions finally answered! =)<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**So, as much as I know everyone is wanting to rush right in and save Katherine, like I said this is another arc, more dealing with their counterparts world. So stuff happenes here while they are trying to get back to their own world to save Katherine. I hope everyone enjoys the side trip and enjoys this darker world.**

**A big thank you to forgottenforever and i love Athrun for their reviews!**

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><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

**Leonardo** looked at _Michelangelo _who sighed. "Really wish I could learn to do that." He grumbled.

"Yeah well, your sons are the only ones who can actually do that in this place. And this is the only room in this place where Trick and Treat can't just float through the wall or floor. In this room you can actually hear them coming." _Raphael_ said crossing his arms.

_Michelangelo _smiled and laughed. "Bob told me the rest of him was in Mon's bathtub." He laughed. Mon glared at him.

_Raphael's _mouth twitched and broke into a grin. Even _Leonardo _managed to give a slight smile.

Their eyes fell on them and they remembered they weren't alone. "Is that why Starlight and Starbright were pretty much comatose during the day, because they were stars and stars fade in the daytime?" Donatello asked.

_Leonardo_ nodded. "All of them don't do well in the daytime. We had to switch to a sleep during the day, up all night schedule for them. But Darkness says when they get older they will be more powerful and be able to stay awake during the day, but they will always be more powerful at night."

The Big screen TV turned on. Their counterparts frowned as they looked at the TV in surprise. Mon was looking at the TV intently. "I was thinking maybe they would like to see Darkness in action." Mon said as Leonardo looked at the image on the screen. A very battered and bloody Darkness was standing opposite a man dressed in golden armour. He had a look of horror on his face as butterflies surrounded him. "Stupid idiot should have just walked away, but no, he just couldn't give up and admit defeat. Those butterflies are the manifestation of Heterion's power. He was the god of Nightmares. Anyway, Darkness turned his power back on him, so his greatest fear is about to appear...now. The image isn't real, it is just a physical manesfestation, but it doesn't mean that it can't kill you. And guess who that is?" Mon said as Leonardo studied the woman who stood between Darkness and Heterion. It was Katherine, or probably Goddess. Memberanous black wings arched gracefully behind her, her black serpentine tail flicking with annoyance. "Yup, he was scared of The Golden Goddess. That was what most of the gods called Goddess."

"No offence but she doesn't really look very Golden." Raphael said as he stared at the image. Leonardo agreed with Raphael.

"She has a lot of scars." Michelangelo observed.

"Yeah well she got those, all of them, when she was still just Katherine. Only goddess ever to have had a mortal body by the way, at least a permanent one." Mon said as she paused the image. Another image appeared on the screen. It was of Goddess dressed from head to toe in golden armour. Her power pulsing out around her in a golden aura. "This is why they called her the Golden Goddess." Golden armour blazed and burned up her arms. Gold gauntlets encircled her hands and arms plated armour covered upper arms flowing into shoulder guards. Her black hair and cat ears were pure white, but were then hidden beneath a helm with golden curling horns. Feathered wings were encased in razor edged silver metal. A silver and gold breastplate covered her torso. Golden thigh guards appeared, and golden sandals appeared on her feet lacing up to her knees. Plated armour continued down her tail which became webbed on the end. A white cape formed around her shoulders , and a white linen skirt appeared around her waist.

"Anyway," The Golden image of Goddess disapeared and Mon unpaused the image of the three figures standing in an almost frozen tableau. "The gods don't realize that this moment was the moment when Goddess and Darkness became one. Watch." She said with excitement. As one both figures moved. Darkness' clawed hand as well as the clawed hand of Goddess went straight through Heterion's chest. As soon as their images merged Goddess vanished. "This is going to get messy." Mon said as Darkness ripped his spine through the front of his chest, his skull ripping away from the flesh of his face. Leonardo felt his vision start to blacken with the brutality of his death. She threw the still writhing skull and spine to the ground and stomped on his skull crushing it to the ground.

"Of course Darkness doesn't stop at just killing him, no she goes that one step further."Mon said as a ball of golden light appeared. Darkness grabbed the golden light and she extinguished it. "She Consumes his soul too."

Leonardo's eyes widened in horror. "Darkness...Darkness said that there were creatures out there that fed off of souls. You're telling me that Darkness is one of these things!" He accused his counterparts.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch Leo."_ Raphael_ said with a shrug. "Darkness can eat souls, but she usually doesn't because they don't do anything for her. She doesn't gain in power, she says all they do is wiggle around a bit before their light is finally extinguished. She usually just Destroys them. And it isn't like she does it all the time, only when she is forced to."

"Destroyer gods are very rare. The power it takes to Destroy a soul is immense, the power needed to survive the backlash of the Destruction of a soul is astronomical." Mon said with a shake of her head. "You get a few Consumer gods here and there, but even when a Consumer gods consumes the soul it remains intact, it is just drained of its energy. But a god with the power to Destroy another god's soul." Mon shook her head. "The gods only know of two gods with the ability to do this, The Golden Goddess, which is why the gods all ganged up and tried to Destroy her soul, and Darkness. That is why the other gods call Darkness 'The Destroyer.' The point is, it wasn't the two goddesses within the Golden Goddess that made her powerful enought to Destroy the souls of the gods, they were only Consumers, it was Katherine herself. That is how powerful Katherine's soul is. And you can imagine what could happen if someone was able to harness that kind of power." Mon finished softly.

Leonardo looked at Mon in horror as he realized the true power of Katherine's soul. He looked at the paused inage of Darkness on the screen. What Darkness was, terrified him.

Finally Michelangelo spoke quietly to them."She's funny, and sweet, loves to laugh and has a way of talking with her hands when she gets excited. She makes everything sound interesting and when she smiles it is like looking at the bright light of the sun it is filled with so much warmth, joy and happiness. She's protective, controlled, stubborn as hell, and when she gets angry it is like the sun will never shine again because her anger is as cold and pitiless as the arctic. She's smart and has a way of looking into your very soul when she looks at you. She is honest with herself and with others." Michelangelo looked at his older self. "You wanted to know what Katherine was like."

_Michelangelo_ gave a half smile and a nod. "Believe it or not, she sounds almost like Darkness. Except Darkness' anger burns with the fury of a thousand suns."

_Leonardo_ assessed them. "I guess Mikey can show you where you can bunk down for the day if you want, and if you guys are up for it you can take a look at the Castle."

_Michelangelo _waited until they stood and followed them to the elevator. He frowned. "We got any more of those buckets Donny? They're mortal, I don't know what will happen if they ride the interspacial elevator. I mean, I know it isn't as bad as the interdimensional elevator, but..."

_Donatello _looked up from whatever he was doing with the computer. He frowned in thought. "They should be good. But I honestly don't know what would happen to a mortal on the interdimensional elevator, but you may feel a bit queasy going down the interspacial one." _Donatello_ warned.

_Michelangelo _nodded. "See the thing is, although this room is a part of the Castle it actually doesn't exist within the same space as the Castle." He said. "I have no idea what that means or how it is possible, but basically this room doesn't exist within this reality or something." He said with a shrug as the elevator doors opened. They all piled in. Leonardo studied _Michelangelo_. Besides being older and a little more mature there was a hardness in his eyes that their Michelangelo didn't possess. He wondered what it was that had put it there, what had happened to have changed him?

The elevator went down and Leonardo felt a tiny amount of queasiness but was otherwise okay. "Just a warning." _Michelangelo_ said to them. "This place is a horror show. Seriously it is like Halloween 24/7."

"Really?" Michelangelo asked a little colour returning to his face.

"Sorry, Halloween is fun, I should say horror movie. I live here and this place still gives me the creeps." He said without any hint of a smile. "Seriously. There are zombies buried in the basement, and not the slow moving zombies that call out braaaiiinnis!, no these are the infection like type zombies that move faster than you can. They can even climb up the walls and ceilings, we are talking scary zombies. Then there are the skeletons and ghosts, or I should say poltergeists."

"Skeletons and...Ghosts." Michelangelo swallowed.

"But Darkness keeps all of that in the basement. They are part of the Castle's defence system. Of course Trick and Treat being what they are, stir things up from time to time, but for the most part all the nasty stuff stays in the basement. " He looked at them seriously. "This is Darkness' Seat of Power. This is what Olympus is to Zeus, Odin to Asgard. This is her Seat. But the Castle has a very dark history and wasn't always that red haired kid that appeared earlier. This place was built on T'lae-ran by Diemortia, the goddess of dark magic. Basically one of the goddesses who was trying to eat Katherine's soul. Anyway, this place was used as a place of torture and pain. Awful things happened here, and Darkness knows it's history which is why she has left everything as it was when the Castle was first built. Because she wants to remember and pay respect to those who were killed here. So just remember that. Everything in here is not here because Darkness is insane or sadistic or some sort of psycho. It is because to tear it all apart would mean to forget everything, try to cover it up." _Michelangelo _paused as the elevator stopped. "I know it seems as if Goddess and Darkness were and are violent and destructive, and she was and is, but only if those she loves are in danger." The elevator doors opened revealing a stone passage and a gate of some sort in front of them. Past the gate looked to be a room completely made of bones.

Leonardo swallowed in horror.

"This back passage leads to Darkness' bedchambers." _Michelangelo_ said with a shrug as he strode through the gate. There was movement behind them as the gate closed. The gate was made of four human like skeletons intertwined at impossible angles, skeletal mouths open and screaming in agony. "If you want to go back up to the control room, close the jaws of the two end skeletons." _Michelangelo _said as he strode under a chandelier made from inhuman skulls, across the floor made of long bones, past pillars made from a jumbling of bones.

They followed close at his heels wanting nothing but to get out of the grisly chamber. "Believe it or not, this is one of the better less horrific rooms of the Castle." _Michelangelo_ said as he walked through a set of double doors and out into the daylight. Leonardo watched as clouds sped past , the colour of the sky painted in brilliant shades of orange, yellow, pinks, blues and purples.

"That is caused by the shift." _Michelangelo_ said as he walked through an arched doorway guarded by a gargoyle. They entered a large round chamber. In the center of the chamber was a circular stone wall with a spiral staircase that led down. "I hope you guys don't mind doubling up." _Michelangelo _said as he motioned to two doors carved with sigils. "One of you can bunk in Leo's room and two of you can bunk in Donny's room. Another one can bunk in the spare bedroom. There are eight bedchambers, all have their own bathrooms, sheets are all fresh and we even have toilets. Which may sound strange but we don't need them." He said with a shrug. "Raph's room and my room." He motioned to two more doors also with carved sigils. "Spare bedroom is over there, kid's bedrooms are those last three. Very important note. If you are wandering around, don't go through any doors that do not have a sigil carved into it. This is very important. The interior rooms of the Castle shift constantly and if you go through a door without a sigil and try to go back through it you won't end up in the same place you entered from, so you can get lost. Darkness is usually pretty good about keeping the Castle stable but when we shift it becomes a little hit and miss." He said seriously.

"Darkness' bedchamber is down that hall, and the Chamber of Blood is down that way." He said motioning down a hallway that opened into on open air walkway to a closed door. "I won't take you in there because I don't like going in there, it's bad enough having to dredge the Skeletons out of the Sacrificial Chamber. I hate blood." He shuddered. "Anyway, Chamber of Blood, the walls bleed, enough said." He began walking down the spiral steps to the lower level. They emerged into a huge round chamber where the ceiling was held up by four 30 foot black stone statures of dragons.

Around the chamber were 16 doors. Four of them double doors carved with sigils.

"The doors without the sigils lead to various other rooms, kitchen, mess halls armouries training areas, outdoor training areas, the stables, battle turrets, dining halls, you get the idea." He strode to the first set of double doors. He pushed the massive doors open revealing a darkened passage. Torches began lighting as they walked to another set of double doors with engraved sigils. They opened it revealing a massive white marble throne. Four smaller black thrones, two on each side sat on a raised dais. The Chamber's braziers lit crackling and burring with blue, black and purple light. Flags lined the walls on both sides of the square chamber. "This is the throne room. It's where Darkness holds court both on Darkrealm and T'lae-ran. Those flags are the heralds of the gods. Each god has certain colours that they are known by. If you haven't guessed, Darkness' colours are black, blue and purple. It's just coincidence that Darkness' colours are also Leo and Donny's colours. And trust me when I say, you do not want to meet the one who has white, red and orage as their colours." _Michelangelo_ said with a shudder.

They left the Throne room and were shown a massive library. It was circular and held a massive amount of books. Next was the Sacrificial Chamber. There was a bridge that traversed a lake of blood that led up to a pristine white marble alter.

Michelangelo was looking grey and ready to lose his lunch and _Michelangelo _didn't look much better. "I hate that room" Michelangelo said as they left the chamber. "Second only to the Chamber of Blood. I would rather visit the torture chamber and Cemetery than that room." _Michelangelo_ said softly as he stood next to the stairway that led to the basement.

"Cemetery, torture chamber, and catacombs are all in the basement. The heart of the Castle is in the sub-basement." He said shaking himself out of his abstracted thoughts.

"Wait, did you say the heart of the castle?" Leonardo questioned. _Michelangelo_ nodded. "Katherine's house had a room in its center. Starbright said that it was the heart of the house."

_Michelangelo _frowned. "What house?" He said in confusion.

"The house, you had to have seen it." Raphael said in confusion.

"I saw the big giant shifting tree that the demons were trying to attack." _Michelangelo_ said with a frown.

Leonardo looked at his brothers.

"Well that explains the grass and the trees." Raphael said with a shake of his head. "I hate supernatural shit." He grumbled angrily. "Things just don't make any sense and everything you think you know isn't real, it is just something else." Raphael said angrily.

_Michelangelo_ gave them a smirk. "Tell me about it. Well I think that is everything I can tell you and show you. I would suggest getting some sleep while you can." He said as he began leading them back up the spiral staircase.

"We don't want to impose. I'm sure we can all bunk together in the spare bedroom. Leonardo and Donatello don't need to give up their bedrooms for us." Leonardo said, his own name sounding strange on his lips.

_Michelangelo_ looked at them seriously. "Don't worry, they won't be needing them. Darkness needs Donny tonight, and since Leo's the only one who doesn't mind being with Donny and Darkness, he won't be needing his room either."

Leonardo blushed at the implication. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask any number of questions, like: How it was other Leonardo was able to share? How did all four of them, with just her, actually work? And what did he mean by she needed Donatello?

"What happened to him?" Donatello asked quietly. "You said you and Leonardo were both blown up and that Raphael was stabbed and the other Donatello was crushed, but you never said how he got all of his scars."

_Michelangelo's_ face became grimmer. "Our bodies don't show how we died. All of our scars and injuries happened before we were killed. And believe it or not, Leo actually looked worse than he does now. Becoming a god made his scars better, he was the only one though. The scars across Raph's chest are from the demon that killed him. Goddess brought him back, but those scars left him open to being stabbed by Hun's knife. But he doesn't have the knife wound that killed him. As for Donatello, well that is his story to tell, if he wants to." _Michelangelo_ said with a touch of sadness and regret in his voice.

"Her needing Donatello, it has something to do with whatever I saw in Darkness' eyes, isn't it? It also has something to do with what you have been keeping from Raph as well." Leonardo said to him.

_Michelangelo_ looked over his shoulder as he reached the second level. He frowned. "Darkness..." He shook his head. "Darkness' Beast is rising. When her Beast rises Donny is the only one that can calm it." _Michelangelo _said softly. "But it isn't fair to him to have to be the one all the time. And I know he insists, but still. Leo helps, and depending on how badly her Beast is rising, she'll probably need them both. But Leo can't and I can't and Raph can't, but... " He said wretchedly.

"What do you mean?" Leonardo asked softly.

_Michelangelo_ looked at Leonardo as if assessing him. "After what Raph has been through..." _Michelangelo _shook his head. "When Raph dragged her back from the depths of Darkness..." He shrugged. "She is what she is." He said softly. "You four had better get some rest."

"She...she didn't do that to him, did she?" Donatello asked.

_Michelangelo_ frowned. "No." He said as he walked away leaving them alone.

"I'll bunk with Mikey in the spare room, you two can each take your other selves rooms." Raphael said as he walked to the spare bedroom.

Leonardo blinked in shock, but was glad Raphael had decided to bunk with Michelangelo. He was still looking a little grey.

"Hey Leo?" Donatello asked.

"Yeah Donny?"

"Nothing, goodnight." Donatello said softly as he entered _Donatello's_ room.

"Goodnight Donny, or I suppose good morning." He said as he entered _Leonardo's_ bedroom. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but black satin sheets on a king sized bed wasn't it. The bed had been made with military precision. Blue pillows were piled at the head of the bed. He looked around the rest of the chamber. There was a meditation mat set up in the corner, a few books on the dark wood nightstand. A dark wood armoire in the other corner. There were tapestries on the walls of Samurai battle scenes, as well as other Japanese works of art. In other words, with the exception of the satin sheets, it was exactly how he would have set up his room. There was a large book filled with loose papers on the dresser. He knew he shouldn't look but he opened it anyway. He looked through the stack of children's drawings. There were paintings and crayon drawings from all of the children to _Leonardo_. He smiled sadly. Even if their doubles hadn't thought about children, he could not deny that they loved them and were fiercely protective of them.

Leonardo stripped down to his boxers and slid between the cool sheets and tried to sleep, but found his mind wandering. Their doubles had died, they were now gods and all married to one woman who had also been killed who had been a goddess and before that had been Katherine. His brain hurt just thinking about it. He rolled over on to his side as he thought about Katherine. Pain shot through his heart at the thought of her being dragged to Hell, because Hell wanted her soul. But they would get her back, they would save her, and by doing that, they would save Donatello.

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><p><strong>So what does everyone think?<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N nothing like getting caught up in other people's **

**Just a little heads up, this chapter contains sexual situations, swearing and violence...so please enjoy! =)**

**I want to thank forgottenforever, i love Athrun and for you're awesome reveiws!**

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><p><span>Chapter 6<span>

**Leonardo** sighed and sat up. He couldn't sleep. Not that he really wanted to walk around the Castle, but maybe he could find out some more about their other selves. The other _Raphael _and _Michelangelo _were up still, probably in the Control Room, possibly talking or fighting. He figured he'd be able to find his way back, even if it meant having to walk back through the gate of bones. He quietly got dressed and padded silently from the room. The hallways were dimly lit with the flickering of torchlight. There didn't seem to be any windows in the castle, which seemed odd, but wondered if it was because Darkness could not go into the light since she said the only thing that could destroy her was light.

"Hold her Donny" _Leonardo's_ voice came from down the hallway that led to Darkness' bedchamber.

He watched as _Leonardo _roughly slammed Darkness against _Donatello_ with such force that _Donatello's _shell hit the stone wall behind him, sending small pieces of stone and dust to the floor. _Donatello's _bare arms went around Darkness holding her arms pinned to her body. Darkness growled deep in her throat and he wondered if this was what her Beast was. _Leonardo_ then ripped open her robes, her breasts spilling into the light, the black butterfly tattooed upon her chest. He pulled his own Kimono open, lifted her legs around his waist and slammed himself into her.

Leonardo's mouth dropped open as he watched his other self with Darkness. _Donatello _held her fast as she arched her back, thrusting her breasts up. He was horrified, and embarrassed, and yet there was some part of him that was fascinated at the same time. In the flickering torchlight it was like he was watching himself have sex with Katherine. He knew he should turn around and slowly walk away and yet he stood transfixed at the sight.

"Hold her Donny." His other self growled at his brother.

"I'm trying, but," _Donatello_ lost his hold.

Darkness broke free of _Donatello's_ grip. For a brief moment he wondered if Darkness were somehow an unwilling participant until her arms snaked around Donatello's neck.

_Donatello's_ hands roved over her full breasts and belly. Darkness moaned as she buried her face in _Donatello's_ neck. Darkness' skin began to glow as if it was lit from within.

_Donatello_ closed his eyes as he moaned softly. _Leonardo _was still moving within her but his pace had slowed.

Darkness pulled her face away from _Donatello's_ neck. _Donatello_ pulled her face to his and kissed her fiercely. Nails dug into _Donatello's_ arms and drew blood as they scraped down his tender flesh. _Donatello_ groaned as she pulled away and looked at _Leonardo._

"I want to taste you Leonardo_._" Her husky voice said. Her voice was like liquid sex that rolled off her tongue and went straight to his cock. He grabbed the wall to support himself and to keep himself standing. Lust and need crashed through him in a torrent of maddening desire. He was so hard and ready it was painful.

She leaned forward but _Leonardo_ shook his head. "Damn it! She's still rising Donny." He growled as his pace quickened, he shouted as he reached climax. Darkness shouted out his name as she arched against him.

Leonardo clenched his teeth together at the sound of her calling out his name. Pleasure rolled unbidden though him. He slid to the ground as another wave crashed and rolled through him. He shuddered in ecstasy. He sat on the ground partially hidden around the corner. His back to the wall he looked over his shoulder as his other self was being supported by Darkness. She let him fall where he slid to the ground him against the wall, seemingly unconscious. She pulled from _Donatello's_ grasp. She growled low in her throat.

_Donatello _grabbed her roughly as he slammed her against the wall. She pushed against him. "Where is he?" Darkness rasped, only it didn't sound like Darkness. Her voice had lost its alluring sexuality sounding more animalistic.

"You don't need to worry about him Ryn." _Donatello_ said to her.

Darkness growled. "He is mine." Her tail lashed angrily.

"No, I am." _Donatello_ growled back. "Don't you dare Ryn, don't you dare shift." He yelled at her.

He leapt out of the way as a huge wolf appeared in Darkness' place. Actually it looked more like a cross between a wolf and a tiger. It was massive, much bigger than the Hellhounds that had chased them earlier, and dark as pitch. It had the head and body of a wolf, but it was covered in white stripes, its legs more like those of a tiger, huge and clawed. The claws raked the ground. The Beast's ears went flat against its head, lips pulled back baring fangs, it's glowing orange eyes looked at _Donatello_ angrily.

"Turn back Ryn." _Donatello_ ground out as he stood his ground against the Beast.

It tipped its head to the side

"Change back." Donatello insisted.

It growled.

"I am you mate Ryn." _Donatello_ ground out.

It's tail thrashed back and forth. The Beast leapt at _Donatello_. It caught him in the arm, it's teeth sinking deep into his flesh. _Donatello_ bit back a scream of agony as anger rose up in his eyes.

Leonardo looked around for some sort of weapon, but there was nothing. He slowly stood wondering if he should go for help, but not knowing what to do. Indecision rode through him as he watched the Beast and _Donatello._

_Donatello_ grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and slammed it into the ground. It released his arm.

"You listen to me Ryn. I am your mate, not him, you got it?" _Donatello_ growled.

The Beast rumbled and licked it's lips.

"No." _Donatello _growled. "Remember when Katherine asked you to protect us, you protected us, all of us, you don't get to kill any of us now, or any of them." He ground out.

It fought in _Donatello's_ grip.

"You are part of Katherine's soul, so therefore you are Ryn, even if you don't seem to remember." _Donatello_ panted as he attempted to hold the Beast.

The Beast roared.

_Donatello _squeezed the Beast's throat tighter. The Beast growled. "I am your mate." _Donatello _said through the growl.

The Beast bucked.

"No." _Donatello_ said as he dug his hands further into the scruff of the Beast's neck. He grabbed the Beast and threw it up against the wall. "I am your mate Ryn, I am your Alpha, you are not Alpha, I am!" He said as he rammed his forearm into the Beast's throat. The Beast growled. "Now change back!" He shouted at it. It shifted, Darkness now stood in front of him, and yet still her held her pinned to the wall as her orange eyes blazed into him.

"Come back now!" He said to her. "I swore to you that you would never be in the dark alone ever again! You hear that Katherine! If you fall into the darkness, I'll follow right behind you!" Darkness gave one last growl and she slumped, or tried to, but _Donatello_ kept her pinned to the wall. Darkness opened her eyes, body softly glowing, her eyes glowing a brilliant green.

_Donatello_ let go and stumbled back falling to the ground. "Donatello." She said in horror as she fell in front of him. "What have I done?" She asked in anguish.

"Not you Darkness, never you." He managed to say as he curled into a ball of agony. She reached out and grabbed his arm which had turned black up to his elbow, tiny tendrils of black were crawling up the rest of his arm.

"Do it." _Donatello_ said to her. "It's spread past my elbow." He managed to say through his agony.

"Donatello." She choked out.

"Do it Darkness, please. Just get it over with." _Donatello _ground out through pain clenched teeth.

She took his shoulder in her hands and twisted. Leonardo heard the breaking of bone, and the rending of flesh and muscle as she tore his half blackened limb off at the shoulder. _Donatello _threw back his head to scream, but Darkness covered his mouth as she threw away his blackened limb which vanished in a swirl of darkened shadow.

Leonardo put his own hand to his mouth as he fought the urge to puke, fought the urge to scream out his own horror. He closed his eyes against the scene. He needed to get away, he needed to reveal himself, but embarrassment and horror prevented him from moving, because if he moved they would know he was there, know what he had witnessed, and would know that he now knew what it was they were keeping from Raphael. He didn't know why they had kept it from him, but what they were keeping from him was horrific.

_Donatello _began breathing through his pain.

"I am sorry Donatello. I am so, so sorry." She said miserably. "You shouldn't have to deal with this."

"But I am the only one who can." He managed to say through clenched teeth. He looked at her and brushed the tears off her cheek with his remaining hand.

"It doesn't make it right. I should be able to control her." She said miserably.

"Well this time, she only got my arm." He said with a strained smile. "I'm sorry." He said to her softly. "You were right you know."

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"Ripping off my arm was much less painful than trying to heal it. Not that I could have healed what Ryn did anyway."

"Donatello..." She began.

"She's getting better Darkness. She's remembering. She even spoke when she was still in human form. If we can get her to remember being Ryn, she will no longer attack, no longer fight with us for dominance, you will be able to control her again." _Donatello _said to her.

"I should be better by now. Ryn shouldn't exist anymore. When Goddess put her soul back together Ryn should have vanished, not become a mindless Beast." She said softly.

"Ryn was a separate personality that you created, a piece of your soul that you used to harness your Hungers. She was five thousand years old, did you really think she would just vanish into your soul and not fight against being consumed? Your Hunger is still a part of you because she was a part of you. Now we just have to get her back, when we do that she will remind you what it was like to _feel_, but she will no longer rise as the Beast." He said to her as his arm. It was again whole and unmarred. He flexed his fingers.

"It is all my fault." She said wretchedly.

"It isn't your fault Darkness. Raph pulled you back, Raph pulled you back from the depths of darkness, and no matter what I have to suffer because of that, I will do it, because I failed you by not trying to pull you back." He said to her.

"Donatello." he said shaking her head.

"No. I let you go, we all let you go. Raph was the only one who wouldn't let you go, and if this is the price I have to pay for having you here in our lives, then I will pay it. I will pay it a thousand times over because I will never let you fall into the dark again." He told her fiercely. He held her face in both hands gently. "I love you, I love you with all of my heart Katherine." He said to her.

"I'm not Katherine Donatello." She said softly.

"Why not?" He asked. "If the Beast can be Ryn, why can't you be Katherine? If I looked upon your soul I know it would be Katherine who stared back at me. So why can't you just accept her, be her?" He asked her.

She looked at him with pain in her eyes. "Two reasons. Because if I am her, I will hate myself, I will loathe what I have become." She said desolately. "Katherine was so good, filled with so much light and love and happiness, she never harmed anyone. I have killed gods. I have killed demons and mortals alike. I have tortured demons to prove a point and enjoyed it. They may have been demons but it doesn't mean they didn't feel pain, doesn't mean that even though I know they would have killed me, tortured me, it still doesn't make it right."

"You survived Katherine, you did what you had to do to protect those you loved." He said to her.

"So how doesn't that make me any more or less of a monster? What, my motives were pure therefore good and I am absolved from all of the horror, all of the deaths, all of the blood spilled?" She said to him pulling away from his grip.

He grabbed at her and pulled her close. "You aren't a monster, you aren't, because you regret doing it. You regret killing demons!"

Darkness blew out a breath. "Donatello." She said softly. "I don't regret killing them. I regret that it had to come to that, but I have no regrets over any death I have inflicted."

"Darkness it is okay to be Katherine, okay to accept that, yes she died, and no you are not exactly her, but people change, people do what they have to do to survive, and you survived. Let me call you Katherine, for me, be Katherine." He said brushing her cheek gently. "I may not be your soul mate, and I am not the one you bound to you in love, but..." He began.

She cut him off. "Donatello, each of you are loved, so fully and completely, and each of you fills a different part, a different need in my heart. You are the one who has always known me best. You are the one who has always understood me, more than any of your brothers. You are the keeper of all of my secrets, the one I first turn to in need."

He looked at her in shock. "I have marked you all, bound you all, to me for all eternity." She said as she stroked her fingers over the double crescent moon with the star that was emblazoned on Donatello's chest. "You and your brother's wear my mark, you are mine. When you open yourself up, you can feel everything that I feel, and I feel everything you feel."

He pulled her to him in a crushing embrace. "I will fight against Ryn for eternity if I have to. If she keeps you grounded here with me, then all I can do is thank her." He whispered to her.

"You shouldn't have to Donatello." She said desperately.

"But I am the only one who can dominate her. Mikey can't and Leo's tried. She won't accept Leo because he can't hurt her, because he knows if he hurts her, he's hurting you. We tried to subdue her by giving her blood, pain and sex, but it didn't work, she rose anyway." Donatello shook his head. "Remember what happened the first time she rose. We didn't know what had happened and Ryn was not friendly. She attacked Leo and Mikey, and they feared her. They let their fear roll over them when they realized she was nothing but a mindless Beast. I was the only one who was able to stand up to her. I was the only one who didn't scream in agony when she bit me, the only one who was able to subdue her. I'm just thankful that Raphael was not there, because she was searching for him, she remembered him, even if she didn't remember who she was, she remembered him and wanted her 'mate'. Out of all of us it was Raph who she had wanted because when we first encountered Ryn back when we were still mortal. Raph was the only one who hadn't backed down, the only one who had not feared her. But now, he would not be able to stand up to her. Ryn's bite is the most painful thing I have ever felt. Her poisonous claws and teeth leach a poison into your flesh that is so bitterly cold, it burns. It is then that your flesh begins to unmake itself which is, excruciating because if feels like nothing." _Donatello_ shook his head as he silenced Darkness as she had opened her mouth to speak.

"After what Raphael suffered in The Pit, I could never let him suffer anymore. He was in The Pit for 7 years. For seven long, lonely, painful years he fought for the amusement of the gods, living under the constant threat of being tortured, raped and killed, not to mention the actual fights themselves. What I have suffered at Ryn's claws and teeth is nothing compared to what he suffered." _Donatello_ said to her.

"Raphael chose his path, you cannot feel guilty at what he suffered because of his choices." She said softly, but guilt and pain laced her words.

"I know, but he still hurts, he is still...broken." _Donatello_ said in anguish.

"We knew the secret would come out eventually Donatello." Darkness said as she stroked his cheek.

"Ryn wants him dead, or to prove to her that he can beat me, and her. I am not strong enough to beat Raphael, he would win against me, but we both know he couldn't win against her, both know that if Ryn sensed one ounce of fear she would kill him. None of us is strong enough to stop her if she actually decided to kill him, and she _is_ getting stronger." He looked at her seriously. "We were protecting him from himself. You and I both know if we had have told him he would not want to look like a coward. He would have tried to stand up to her, and when she smelled his fear as she attacked him, found his weakness of being attacked from behind, she would not hesitate to kill him. If she bit him or clawed him, his inability to take the pain she would have inflicted would have made him all the more easy to kill. He has suffered so much. He shouldn't have to suffer any more. I can take the pain, he can't."

Darkness looked at _Donatello _with agonized eyes. She clenched her teeth together and scrambled across the floor hitting the wall beside the unconscious _Leonardo_.

Darkness closed her eyes. "I need you Donatello, now. She's trying to rise again."

"What do you need from me." He asked as he slowly stood up. Darkness slowly stood her eyes flickering to orange and back again.

"Everything. But right now, I need you to fuck me." She said to him her voice dropping seductively.

Leonardo's eyes widened firstly at her language and secondly because it was her voice. There was something in her voice that rode across his skin and made him hard and ready. He clenched his teeth together. He tried covering his ears with his hands but found he couldn't. He looked at the couple standing as if frozen. _Donatello _finally took a step towards her. He braced a hand against the wall beside her. Apparently her voice affected _Donatello _as much as it affected him.

"First Mikey, now you. You have a dirty mouth Katherine, and I think I like it." He said huskily. He slammed his forearm across her chest pinning her to the wall.

"How hard?" He asked.

"Hard." She answered.

Leonardo clenched his teeth in pain as her voice washed over him. He didn't have to watch didn't have to listen, and yet he was unable to move. He watched as _Donatello _pinned her to the wall and drove himself inside her hard.

She threw back her head in a surprised gasp.

Darkness groaned his name.

"Please Katherine." _Donatello_ begged. She dug her nails into his shoulders drawing blood. _Donatello _moaned. His Kimono was still hanging around his waist leaving his upper torso bare. She scratched her nails down the side of his body drawing more blood. _Donatello _shuddered in pleasure.

Leonardo realized then that _Donatello _liked pain. He actually enjoyed being hurt. Whatever Ryn's bite was, it was too much pain, but he liked the pain Darkness was inflicting.

"Please." He begged.

"How hard?" She asked, her voice sinfully husky.

Leonardo clenched his teeth together. A siren's song. That was what her voice was. He couldn't look away, and he couldn't cover his ears no matter how hard he tried.

"Hard. I need you to hurt me. I need to feel, Ryn's bite is the absence of feeling, it hurts because it is like nothing." He whispered.

Nails dug and sliced through his arms cutting into the soft flesh beneath. _Donatello _shuddered in ecstasy.

She leaned forward and bit his throat hard, blood slowly flowing down his neck to mingle with the blood that flowed from his arms and sides. She pulled away from his throat her lips stained red with his blood.

Suddenly he bit into her shoulder. His bite did not draw blood, but she threw her head back in surprised ecstasy as she called out _Donatello's_ name.

A wave a lust and pleasure rode over Leonardo. He covered his mouth as he shouted as the sound of her voice rolled another orgasm through him.

_Donatello _shouted her name as he gave one final thrust before collapsing.

Darkness licked the blood from her lips and licked blood from her fingers. Leonardo now knew why Darkness never ate, she fed off blood, specifically, Donatello's blood.

The blood that had spilled onto the floor from the deep gouges she had given _Donatello _seeped into the floor of the Castle where it was greedily absorbed.

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><p><strong>So yes thier counterparts are dealing with thier own stuff which our heroes are going to get semi-dragged into.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you to forgottenforever and i love Athrun for your reveiws!**

**Please enjoy this next chapter!**

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><p><span>Chapter 7<span>

**Leonardo** watched as Darkness hauled _Leonardo_ up in one arm and pulled _Donatello_ up in the other. "Are you coming Leonardo?" She asked over her shoulder. He had pulled his head back from the scene before him, his breath coming fast. _She couldn't be talking to him could she?_

"Even if I didn't know where everyone in the Castle was at all times, I would still be able to smell you Leonardo. Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Embarrassment burned at his cheeks. She didn't know he had...? He slowly stood up and looked down at his stained pants. He backed away from the hallway and turned running into Darkness who had somehow managed to get past him.

She raised an eyebrow at him in inquiry and tipped her head slightly. "Are you coming?" She asked him.

The movement and the expression was so reminiscent of Katherine, the torchlight turning her hair golden and red. The lust she had stirred within him had not fully abated, it still flowed through him, and her damn voice. He reached down and crushed her to him bringing his head down to kiss her.

Her arms snaked around his neck. She tasted like honey and copper, and she smelled of flowers, just as Katherine did. He remembered then that she wasn't Katherine, she was, but not _his_ Katherine. He pulled away and brushed a finger across her cheek. He looked down at the blood on her cheek, her throat and her chest. He traced the black butterfly and was entranced by it. It covered her chest and the tops of perfect breasts_. It's not her, it's not her_. He kept telling himself as he traced a line down her belly. His mind screamed at him, but his body and his heart were telling him she was Katherine.

He pulled his hand away as he fought with himself. "You cannot help it Leonardo. Come." She said pulling away and heading towards her bedchamber.

Her problem was that she was too beautiful, and too damn seductive. Whereas Katherine did not realize she was sexy, Darkness did, and sex moved off of every graceful line of her body. She could never pass for human. She didn't move as a human would. She was too graceful, her movements too sinuous. She moved like a predator, and that was exactly what she was. He studied her. Her skin was too pale, too opalescent. It had stopped glowing, but it retained a luminescent quality that was not human. And her voice, her voice rolled and dance off his skin. He had noticed it when they had been in the control room, but now, it was more pronounced. He couldn't help but follow her, even though his mind screamed that it was a bad idea. She waited for him and pushed open the double doors. Light flooded into the hallway. She stepped into the light and if the dark loved Darkness's body, so too did the light. The light caressed her skin and bathed it with warmth. Her wings stretched wide almost as if trying to infuse the room with darkness. Her clothes slid to the floor as she continued to walk straight ahead. He looked at the black skin between her wings that traveled down to the kitty cat tail that slowly moved back and forth. Her ears twitched backwards as if listening to him.

He managed to pry his eyes away from the naked woman in front of him. He followed her up the steps to where a massive four polster bed sat. It was by far larger than a king, it's posts tried to reach the vaulted ceiling, but failed.

_Leonardo_ and _Donatello_ were sprawled on the bed, either sleeping or unconscious. _Donatello _was fully healed, the damage done by Darkness no longer showed on his body.

"I thought..." He began and then stopped.

She turned and wish she hadn't. Her pale and perfect body, even drenched with blood,made him want her. He closed his eyes.

"What, that the light would Destroy me?" She laughed. Her laughter riding over his skin like a sinful invitation.

"Light cannot help but love the Dark, just as Dark cannot help but love the Light." She said with a smile in her voice. He clutched one of the posts of the bed. He looked at the unconscious forms. "What did you do to them?" He asked in a strained whisper.

"Pleasure overload. The same thing that happened to you, although you got only a small dose." She said with a soft smile. "I opened the bindings between us." She said tracing the double crescent moon interlaced with a star on _Donatello's_ chest. "They felt what I felt, I felt what they felt, and I am not just talking about emotions. But of course with the way we tried to stop Ryn from rising you were caught up in the power of the lust that rode through us. I apologize for that." She looked at the unconscious forms of _Leonardo _and _Donatello._ "It is not always so, and one day their bodies will be able to withstand the sensations." She said with a smile.

She stood beside him then. He stumbled back. "Clothes off." She ordered. He took another step back from her.

Katherine had always scared him. Michelangelo was right. She tipped his world on its head and he was in awe of her for being able to do that to him. Katherine made him feel vulnerable and out of control. This woman scared him on a completely different level. The primitive part of his brain that still remembered what it was like to be food wanted to crawl right back into his shell and hide, because he recognized that this woman was a predator with claws and teeth that could kill him, eat him, and destroy him in ways he couldn't even imagine.

"I frighten you." She said with a tip of her head. The Beast rolled around in her eyes and watched him. It was interested in his fear, his fear said to the Beast that he was food.

He understood now why they had kept Ryn from _Raphael_. If _Raphael_ showed any fear, the Beast would kill him, because _Raphael_ would be nothing but food.

He took another cautious step back. "You fear me, but you'd still have sex with me. That is interesting." She said with a smile. He couldn't deny it. As much as he feared her, he still wanted her, couldn't help but want her.

"That is good." She said looking at him. "Clothes off." She said as she turned and walked up another set of steps. She stepped into what looked like a large sunken tub. She began washing off the blood that coated her body. He found himself walking towards her.

He stripped off his pants, boxers and shirt. He slid into the warm water with Darkness. She looked at his pile of clothes on the floor where they vanished.

Darkness regarded him thoughtfully. "I have no intention of touching you Leonardo, no matter how tempting. Your mortal blood and the fact that you are Leonardo calls to me, but you are not mine to touch, and besides, my men would not be very happy with me. Especially not my Leonardo who is sensitive about his age and his scars. He is having a hard time looking at you, because he remembers what he was like at your age, and he is jealous at how easy your lives have been so far." She said softly.

"Easy?" Leonardo said with surprise. "How the hell have our lives been easy?" He asked. "My father is dead, the woman I love is in Hell, and I know when we get her back and get her to choose between us, I know she won't choose me." He said wretchedly. "How is that easy?" He asked her angrily.

Darkness looked at him seriously. "Talk to him tonight." She said softly. Darkness looked at the doors of her bedchamber and closed her eyes in resignation. "Hello Mon." She said as the doors to her bedchamber burst open.

"My Lady I wanted to talk to you about the Underworld." She said desperately. "Now I know you don't want any expansions of the T'lae-ran Underworld, but I have had four, count them four, new deities petitioning for rights to set up places of Rest for their followers who are on Earth and we are seriously running out of room. So I am asking you if you would consider the possibility of allowing expansion into T'lae-ran." She pleaded. Leonardo blinked in shock. Mon looked at him, looked at the two turtles sleeping in the bed and turned her attention back to Darkness. "Hello other Leo." She said with a wave.

"Mon." Darkness said in irritation. "You know the reasons I have remained firm on this. I don't want any alien deities who are not part of the T'lae-ran pantheons to be housing their dead in the T'lae-ran Underworld. Not only is it just wrong, but that would require the re-opening of the Ways and the inter-world Reaper runs, which, after the attacks of Light's warriors, were deemed unsafe. And I know Light has stopped trying to kill me and that Light's warriors are gone, but the Ways are unstable. The Ways have to pass through Betwixt and Between, but after Light's warriors ripped Betwixt and Between apart, they are just too unstable. It is too dangerous for both the Reapers and the souls they carry. That was the reason that Heaven and Hell now deal with all of the magical creatures left on Earth."

"But Darkness." She whined.

Darkness rubbed her temples. "I will petition the other Underworlds and see where room can be made. Some of the lesser Underworlds are taking up way too much space and it is possible many of their souls can be convinced to possibly reincarnate themselves." She said. "I will draft the paperwork and have Death present it before the Council of the gods."

"Really." Mon said hopefully.

"Yes Mon, really, now go away." Darkness said dismissing her.

"Oh sorry, are you going to have sex with him?" She asked motioning to Leonardo.

"What?" Leonardo said looking at her in shock. He felt a blush form on his cheeks.

"Not that it is any of your business Mon, but no, I am not going to have sex with him." She said to her.

Mon looked at him. "Why not?" She questioned.

"There are several reasons. Starting with, my husbands may have a problem with me having sex with him." She said patiently.

"Why? It's Leo. Granted he is a younger less scarred Leo, but Leo none the less." Mon said curiously.

"Because he is a different Leonardo, not my Leonardo. And they would have every right to be angry if I had sex with him, it would be almost like cheating." She said to her.

"I don't get it. Lots of gods take lovers. But it would be like you taking a lover that was already your lover, or you could even have both Leo's at the same time, that would be interesting." She said with interest.

"Mon..." Darkness began and then frowned looking at him speculatively. "Two Leonardos." She said with a purr. Then she shook her head. "No, no, so wrong, tempting, but wrong."

"So what are the other reasons?" Mon asked.

Darkness sighed. "He is Katherine's, he's a virgin, I'd probably kill him, should I go on?" She questioned.

Mon looked at the bed where Leonardo and Donatello were sprawled. "Rode those two into the ground huh?" She said with a shake of her head, her pigtails swinging madly.

Leonardo looked at the woman and girl and thought about how wrong the conversation was. Mon was 12 and yet she didn't talk or act as if she were 12. She also had no sense of respect or any boundaries at all.

"Not yet, but I intend to.." She said with a wicked grin, her fangs glinting in the sunlight.

"Well, just don't kill them." Mon said with a wave as she turned and walked out the door.

Darkness shook her head in exasperation but her lips twitched. "Mon is a Reaper. She is about 1200 years old, and has no real concept of, well...emotions, propriety, respect, boundries, you get the picture. She really just doesn't understand, but she always claims to be 'learning'." She said as she burst into laughter at his astonished look. Her laughter rolled down his skin like the softest velvet, filled with sexual promises. He felt himself go hard at her laughter. The conversation was so surreal he was having a hard time processing it and now he felt himself burn with need.

"Sorry about that." Darkness said with a half smile. "I forget sometimes what my voice can do."

He looked at her angrily. "You did that on purpose." He accused.

"Now why would I do that, just to make you uncomfortable? I have not been around mortals for over a thousand years Leonardo. I cannot help what I am. Sex rolls off me like the water that runs down my body." Her voice had lowered and become even more seductive.

"What are you doing?" He growled.

"Helping." She said to him.

"How are you helping, you are making it worse." He said as his need became painful.

"That would be the point Leonardo." She said, his name rolling off her lips like the sweetest honey.

"Stop, please stop." He said desperately. He burned. "I don't want to feel this way with you, I only want to burn for Katherine, not you." He growled.

She looked at him and she smiled softly at him. She remained silent. He began breathing in and out slowly trying to get control of his body. He began to panic as he remembered the angel who had invaded his body, who had made him do things, feel things.

"Leonardo calm down, look at me." Darkness said to him. "Breath slowly, in and out." She said trying her best to remove all traces of the husky sexuality her voice contained. "That thought, that thought you just had, tell me." She said softly.

He looked into her concerned eyes. He realized then that whatever she was, Katherine was still in there, because Katherine looked at him with the exact same eyes. He closed his eyes as fear for Katherine rode over him, as the pain of what he had almost done to her crashed through him in a staggering wave of guilt.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. He was sitting in a chair fully clothed in a blue kimono with black accents. A fire roared in a massive marble fireplace. Books surrounded them as he looked around the library of the Castle.

Katherine's library had always been his room, his retreat more than any other room in her house. _But how did Darkness know?_

She knelt before him so he had to look down into her eyes. Her wings partially lay on the ground, her ears twitched as he moved. He reached out and touched the ears because for some reason they fascinated him. He lifted up her hair and realized that where there should have been human ears, she had none. Darkness did not move, did not say a word, just let him gain control of all of his thoughts and emotions.

"When the angel possessed me, he tried to make me kill Katherine, and if it hadn't been for Katherine exorcizing the angel, I would have killed her." He said softly.

He looked at her as she frowned. "That is true, but that is not the reason that shame claws at your heart." She said in concern.

He couldn't look into her eyes, and he didn't know why he told her but his words came out choked with pain.

"Leonardo I have never heard of an angel possessing a human, but I would see why it would. It would be easier to control a human than create a mortal body. It would also allow the angel to retain its ability to wall itself off from its host. Angels tend to not do very well when they become mortal, they have a hard time going back to being angels." She said to him.

"Yes, but he said he was going to fall for what he was going to do." He said desperately.

Darkness turned her head away as she thought. "I wonder if you had have succeeded, or even if one of your brothers had had sex with her, if Hell and Heaven would still have been interested? Heaven wants her dead, Hell wanted her dead, but now it wants her alive and has taken her." She slowly stood. "Her powers have manifested, but could Hell really use Katherine's soul?"

She stood so still looking into the fire that it was as if she were made of marble. There was a quality to her stillness that wasn't human or mortal. It was the stillness, the absence of something he would think of as life. Finally she glanced at him."I frighten you. You know I could kill you easily, but do you believe I would?" She asked softly.

He looked at her in surprise. He frowned in thought. For some reason he felt as if this question was important but he didn't know why. He took his time to answer. He looked into her emotionless eyes. _She could kill him easily and she terrified him because of what she was, at what she could make him feel with no thought at all, but did he believe she would kill him?_ "No." He said with absolute conviction.

She nodded. "Always remember that." She said to him. Her tail flicked in thought. "Do you believe we should have told Raphael?" She asked him.

He looked at her in surprise.

"I think..." He paused in thought. _If It were him..._Then shook his head he already knew the answer. "I would have done the same as he did." He said as he thought of his other self. "If you truly believed Raphael to be in danger, then I would have done anything to protect him. Including hiding things from him."

Darkness nodded in thought.

"You said there were two reasons you could never be Katherine." Leonardo said softly. "You never told other Donny the second reason."

She looked at him. She let him see her worry, her doubt her fear. This woman who was so incredible powerful, so completely in control, feared something, something to do with Katherine.

"What if I'm not Katherine, what if I am really Darkness?" She whispered. "What if Katherine never managed to merge with Darkness? What if Darkness just consumed Katherine and now just has all of Katherine's memories and believes It _is _Katherine, but it isn't? What if Katherine is gone or is still trapped within the all consuming depths of Darkness?" She looked into the flames that danced in the grate. "It is my one fear, and because of this fear I have been unable to access my Soul Room and fix things with Ryn. My weakness and fear has caused Donatello a great amount of pain and suffering, and it too has affected our entire family. Lies have been told, secrets kept to protect Raphael, which has only hurt him now that he knows that we have kept something from him." She looked at him then. "But it is time."

"Time for what?" He asked softly.

"To face my fear head on." She said to him with a soft smile. "Come," She said as she held out a hand. He slowly stood. "You must have so many more questions, and your brothers are still awake." He took her hand.

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><p><strong>AN I kinda enjoy Mon, I think she's hilarious...but it could just be me =)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you to forgottenforever and i love Athrun for your wonderful reviews!**

**More questions and more answers in this chapter! More background info on Darkness/Goddess/Katherine.**

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><p><span>Chapter 8<span>

**Raphael** looked at Michelangelo with worry. He looked exhausted and grey.

He sat down next to his brother on the bed. The sheets were red satin with black pillows. The bed was a king sized four pollster that had been lacquered black. The room itself had walls covered in tapestries of different battles.

He turned his attention back to his brother. "I know this place is really freakin' you out Mikey, but they are going to help us get Katherine back." He said softly.

Michelangelo closed his eyes. "I know Raph, but...This place freaks me out, Katherine scares me and the other me, scares me. All of them are so badly scarred and then I think it could be me, it could be you, it could be us. One day that could be us, except we'd be dead and that thought freaks me out even more." He said shaking his head.

"Mikey just because all of this crazy stuff happened to them, doesn't mean it is going to happen to us." Raphael said to him, because he hoped that he was right.

"But so far there are things that are the same and I am so worried about Katherine that I can't even think about sleeping." He said in a wretched whisper.

"I know Mikey, but we can't save Katherine if we aren't at the top of our game." He told his brother. His brother reluctantly nodded. "It's okay Mikey, Katherine will make sure we are okay." He said softly.

"Do you think she will be able to save her?" Michelangelo asked as he slipped between the red sheets.

"If anyone can, it will be her." Raphael said softly as he too climbed between the sheets. "She's still Katherine Mikey. No matter what she looks like, no matter who she says she is, it's still her."

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><p><strong>Donatello<strong> stared at the ceiling of his room, or rather his other self's room, the purple satin sheets were cool against his skin. He glanced around the room. Spare parts were littered here and there, stacks of books were haphazardly piled on the floor and night table. The walls were covered with papers scrawled with random scientific equations. More papers littered the floor. He frowned as he realized that even when his counterpart had gone to his room at night, he had not slept. His other version had worked nonstop in his efforts to find his lost children.

He looked at some paintings and drawings that had been tacked onto the walls, mixed into the scientific equations. Donatello realized then that even though each of the children had biological fathers, they all treated the children as theirs and all of the children each treated all of the fathers as their own.

He closed his eyes as he realized fully the feelings that Raphael and Leonardo had felt. He had never thought about children other than the fact that they happened to others. But looking into Hitsuzen's smiling face, he fully realized the pain that Leonardo and Raphael had been suffering, and would suffer when they left to save Katherine. He wonder if they realized yet that they were going to have to say goodbye to those two little girls.

Donatello shook his head and contemplated what was really bothering him, the question that he was going to ask Leonardo but had stopped himself. He knew how all of the brothers got all of their scars. All except _Donatello_, and each time he had asked they had evaded or were told to ask _Donatello._ But there had been sadness and regret in Michelangelo's voice, and he wasn't sure why. _Had Michelangelo somehow failed Donatello in some way? _He wondered. _Had Donatello been tortured in some way?_

Donatello blinked as he looked around him. He was no longer in _Donatello's_ room, instead he was in a massive library, or at least half a library. He looked over the edge into the massive fathomless expanse of space. He stared out in wonder. He could see whole universes spinning silently. He reached out to touch a star. He was hauled backwards. He looked into the frightened eyes of Raphael. "Jeez Donny what the Hell do you think you are doing!"

Donatello looked down at where he had almost stepped off the edge into nothingness. He looked at Raphael and then at his other brothers. "Where are we?" He asked as he looked around him. He confirmed his first impressions of half a library. One half was filled with dark wooden shelves filled with books of all colours and sizes. Many of the leather bindings however were black. A fire roared in a white marble fireplace. Dark cherry red leather wing chairs were set up around the fire.

His gaze strayed to the other side of the room. There was a line right down the middle where the whole room fell off into darkness. The darkness flickered back and forth between what he would think of as space, with planets and stars and asteroids, and utter blackness, utter darkness.

He looked back at his confused brothers. "Are we dreamin'?" Raphael wondered.

"No." Darkness said to them.

They turned and looked at her. She was dressed as when they had first seen her. Black flowing robes, with a purple band tied around her waist. She wore over her robes all of her armour and her double bladed weapons. Bells chimed as she walked. She pulled off her headdress and looked at them.

"Where are we?" Donatello asked her.

"You are in my memory room." She said softly. "This is where every memory I have ever had is stored. And those stars are other Darkness' memories, what could be termed memory anyway."

"Wait, all of your past lives are all bound into books?" He asked incredulous.

"Yes." She said to him tipping her head to the side as if questioning why he thought this was so amazing.

He shared a look with Leonardo. "Katherine did the same thing. When she remembered all of her past lives, she said she was going to bind all of the memories into books and put them in a library so she wouldn't be driven insane by all of her past lives talking to her." Donatello said in awe. Darkness nodded thoughtfully and motioned for them to sit. It was then he realized his oldest brother was now attired in a kimono as well, which meant that Raphael was the only one still wearing his jeans and hoodie.

"Tell me more about this 'house', in which Katherine resided." She said to Leonardo.

Leonardo frowned. "What is there to tell? The girls could see the man that was the house. There were secret passages that only Katherine and the girls could seem to access, and Katherine started having nightmares that were so real they nearly killed her."

Raphael nodded. "Except they weren't nightmares, they were memories. Memories of Kaethryn and Kathlynn's deaths."

"It was as if the something was trying to warn her that the angels and demons were after her." Donatello supplied.

Darkness looked at the flames. She had gone completely still.

"And don't forget about the creepy card that followed her around everywhere." Michelangelo put is softly.

Donatello looked at his brother who was looking less grey, but still worried and scared.

"Card?" Darkness questioned.

"A Tarot card. The Hanged Man." Donatello told her.

"And I saw a different card, The Fool, in a dream." Raphael said softly.

Darkness went completely still again. "I see." She said. Her tail flicked in thought.

"A Place of Power. Now what would a Place of Power want with Katherine?" She asked herself quietly.

"Do you know what the Tarot cards mean Darkness?" He questioned her.

She looked at him. "I know what the cards stands for." She said to him.

"Would you care to share with the rest of the class?" Raphael growled.

Darkness looked at him. "No."

"What?" Raphael roared.

"I shall tell you eventually, but not now. I need to think. There are too many players in the game and I need to figure out what each of their roles are. This is bigger than just Heaven and Hell. That is all I can tell you right now." She said as she looked at Raphael. Raphael fumed with frustration.

She looked at Raphael and laughed. Her laugh rode down his skin and shot desire through him. He gasped as he doubled over.

She covered her mouth. "Sorry." She apologized.

He looked at her in shock. Leonardo glared at her.

"You must have many questions, so ask. Anything that I can answer I will. The subject of your Katherine however, is closed. I need more information which I will gain from Lucy and Gabe, then I shall attempt to figure out what is happening." She said to them.

"What happened to you?" Michelangelo asked softly.

Darkness turned her gaze to him. "Be more specific." She said.

"You scare me. How can other versions of us be okay with what you are?" Michelangelo asked her.

Darkness walked over to Michelangelo she knelt in front of his chair. "I think the question you really want to ask is, how did Katherine die?" She said gently.

Michelangelo looked at her. He reached out and touched her kitty ears which flicked under his touch. "I did not intend to become a monster Michelangelo. But sometimes, you have to become the biggest monster to keep those you love safe." She said softly. Michelangelo's eyes widened in surprise.

A book opened on a table that appeared in front of them. Three images formed on the table, like watching three separate holographic images.

There was no sound only the image. The first showed a laughing Katherine talking to a man in a car. She was driving. She looked exactly as Donatello remembered her looking. Her hair russet, gold and red fell in gently waves down her back. The man she was talking to was looking at her with concern. He had shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, had the build of a football player, and was tanned even though it was winter.

"Hey, I recognize that guy, it's Trevor, Katherine's friend the one who..." Michelangelo said in surprise.

"Gave Katherine the nickname of Kitten, yes." Darkness said with a sad smile as she finished Michelangelo's thought.

A white motorcycle skidded in front of the car cutting her off. Katherine looked at the motorcycle in shock as she swerved to avoid hitting it. The car slid on ice as it swerved into oncoming traffic. A semi crested the hill and hit the car head on, the image paused.

Donatello paled. He had remembered Katherine had said something about almost being hit by a semi when the Hummer she was driving hit a patch of black ice, but she was able to get the car under control, whereas this version of Katherine, hadn't.

"She was supposed to die at that moment." Darkness said softly. "Death waited with her Life Glass, the glass that counted down every tiny moment of her life, but she didn't die, but she was Fated to die at that moment." She looked at all of them as she stood.

"When Death comes for you, your time is up. Death does not bother to come when you die and are brought back to life, he only comes when your Life Glass is empty." Darkness said pointing at the image.

"We are Fated." Raphael said softly. They looked at Raphael in confusion. "I had a nightmare one night. I remember it now. Kaethryn was standing there and she told me they were Fated and then there was Death holding Katherine in her arms just like what Death did to you." He said to Darkness. Fear ran through Donatello as he looked at his brother who wore a horrified expression.

"Fate, is a damnable thing." Darkness said softly. "It is very difficult to outrun or escape your Fate. But always remember that dreams and prophecy do not always tell the whole story. The meaning is usually only made clear when the events have come to pass."

Raphael stood up angrily. "She was in Death's arms, and you are telling me that you were Fated to die!"

"And yet here I am." Darkness said softly. "Although I suppose Katherine did die." She said with a shrug. "Katherine should have died in this accident, but she didn't instead the goddesses Diemortia and Dielucere tore both her and Trevor from Earth and threw them into the middle of a war on T'lae-ran." She said pointing to the second hologram. Donatello focused his attention on the image in the center. Katherine looked as she had when she was Goddess. The only differences were that all of her scars were fresh and angry, and her ears were still human.

Donatello looked at the woman more closely. She had the same vulnerability and innocence as Katherine. She was frightened but determined. She held a sword in her hand as she slew a demon of some sort. She turned quickly and was struck through the heart with two arrows. She fell to the ground. She writhed in pain because the arrows did not kill her immediately. A white haired Elf died the same moment her heart had stopped because they had been bound together. The life began to leave her eyes as a red-haired man clutched her to him. Trevor shouted at the red-haired man as Katherine reached out for Death, who appeared above her, but who was not seen by any others.

The red haired man screamed as he clutched her to him. Fangs appeared as he bit into her throat. He fed from her and then slicing open his own wrist he fed her his blood. She opened her eyes and shouted at him in agony. Power swirled around her and then Goddess emerged. Gone was the vulnerable, innocent woman, instead a god stood in her place. "She had no memory of her mortal lives. She knew what she was, but not who she was. That is how Goddess' body was mortal, well at least vampiric." She pointed to the scars on the right side of Goddess' face, the ones that looked like something had clawed at her. 'These scars are from a Weretiger, she has claw marks from a Werewolf on her back. The beginnings of Ryn." She said pointing at Goddess.

"Who is Ryn?" Donatello asked in confusion.

"The Beast that lurks in Darkness' eyes." Leonardo said grimly. "Apparently Ryn wants Raphael dead, which is why they have kept Ryn's existence from Raphael. That is the secret they are keeping from him."

Darkness gave a smirk. "You shall meet her soon enough." She motioned to the final hologram. The Golden Goddess stood battered, and bloody in front of a massive demon army. "This is Goddess in Hell. That is the army she got Darkness to consume." Darkness said as they watched a massive amount of dark energy consume the entirety of the army. Goddess closed her eyes and fell. "Now watch." She said as she pointed to the first hologram. Katherine and Trevor had vanished from the car, the image looked as if it was paused. Trevor and Katherine reappeared but both were already dead. The image began to play again as the car was crushed by the semi.

Donatello looked away in horror. The images vanished.

"That, is a circle of Fate. Katherine needed to die that day, and she did, eventually." Darkness said softly.

Michelangelo stood up. "I want to know what made you the bigger monster." He said softly. "I want to know how they are not afraid of you."

Dozens of books appeared on the table. "Are you sure that is what you wish to know?" Darkness asked.

Michelangelo nodded his head. "I don't want to be frightened of you. How can I say I love you, love Katherine if I am afraid of you."

Darkness smirked. "You always were the wise one Michelangelo."

Michelangelo looked at her in shock.

Wise and Michelangelo were not words usually formed in the same sentence. But then Donatello remembered. "Darkness, why is Michelangelo the way he is?" He asked softly. He knew she would answer the same as Katherine, and he didn't know why he wanted to ask Darkness, maybe to prove to himself that Katherine really was in there, that she was able to see what Katherine had seen.

Darkness tipped her head to the side as she contemplated Michelangelo. "If Donatello is the brains, Raphael the brawn, and Leonardo the soul of your family, Michelangelo is the heart. Michelangelo acts as he does because he wishes for his family to be happy. He wishes to lighten the mood, joking in impossible situations because if he jokes, then the situation cannot be that bad. He gives you hope when you have none. He always looks out after your emotional well being." Darkness paused. "But behind the facade of the jokester is the man who worries. Who watches and knows each of the brothers as well as they know themselves. He gives support when it is needed, even if it is to remind you that you are a family that would do anything for each other. Because even when you fight, he reminds you that you are alive in the world, and you all have each other to lean on." She finished softly.

Donatello looked at her in shock. Is that how Katherine saw Michelangelo? Did Katherine really see him as their heart, the very glue that held their family together. Donatello thought about it and realized she was right.

"But your family has a new heart now." Darkness said quietly.

Michelangelo nodded his head. "Show me." He said with determination.

Donatello looked at the table with worried eyes. He didn't think he wanted to know. The books opened. Images flashed before his eyes. Goddess fighting with what could only be...gods. Brutal fights with only weapons in a giant pit. Flashes of a woman, Katherine. Goddess was remembering Katherine, and a young girl.  
>"Kaethryn." Raphael said as the young girl was brutally killed by a man wearing all white and riding a white horse. The man was beautiful. Chestnut curls graced a face that would make angels weep, brown pitiless eyes looked at her with nothing but pleasure at her death.<p>

"Michael. The Archangel assigned to kill Katherine throughout eternity." Darkness said softly. Donatello nodded as he remembered the white motorcycle rider.

The scene abruptly changed, Goddess screamed as demons began torturing her. Donatello had to look away from the images. They were too horrific, too gruesome to watch, because where a human would have died under the torture the demons put her through, she didn't die. Donatello was thankful there was no sound. He couldn't bear to hear her screams. Flashes began moving faster. More battles with more gods, attempted rapes by other gods. Scenes flashed faster and faster, wars, death, and starvation. Horrors committed by humans, and other creatures on this strange world of T'lae-ran. The deaths of the resurrected white haired elf and the red haired vampire Daemon, who had bound her soul to her mortal body. They had been killed trying to protect her from being raped by Aerion the first God of Nightmares, because if he could rape her, she would become his wife for all of eternity and he would gain for himself her station and power. She Destroyed three gods that day. Ate their souls, but it mattered not as the men she had loved were dead. A lonely existence filled with nothing but fighting and hatred, jealousy and pitiless contempt from the other gods, but mostly fear. The gods feared her because with the consuming of three souls of gods, Goddess had finally become the biggest monster.

Books closed more opened and Donatello didn't think he could take any more. His whole being wished to weep. He hadn't understood the other Michelangelo's comments when he had asked what Katherine had been like before every bad and horrible thing that had happened to her turned her into...He hadn't finished, but the implication had been clear. Turned her into a monster. A creature that was more dead inside than any of them could even realize. A creature who knew no joy, no love, and no happiness. A creature whose only friend had been Death.

The Castle they were in now, as horrific as it was, was her sanctuary the place she could remember what it had been like to be human. It also contained the memories of the men she had loved, the vampire Daemon, and the Elf Seymous. The memories were bittersweet. She had loved them, but Daemon had loved Katherine, and Katherine to him, had died on the battlefield that day.

"It was Daemon." Michelangelo began wretchedly. "It was Daemon who convinced you that you were not Katherine, because when you remembered who you were, his Katherine was gone, instead he had you and he could not ever accept you as the same woman he had loved."

Darkness remained silent as the other books that had remained closed opened. He watched as _Raphael_ was killed by a giant demon. Goddess knelt down and brought him back to life at a great cost to her own.

They watched as _Leonardo_ looked at Goddess with mistrust. Watched as he constantly fought with her, both verbally and physically. _Leonardo's _anger burned and it raged as his fear of the goddess grew. But it wasn't fear of her, it was fear of his own feelings for her. _Leonardo _wanted her to choose _Raphael_, fall in love with _Raphael _who had suffered so much, had still been suffering so much with debilitating sometimes violent nightmares of which he had no memory of in the morning.

She tended his injuries that would not heal because of the nightmares, and healed his wounded soul. They watched as the empty eyed goddess began to remember what it was like to be alive again. Watched as she fell in love with each brother. Watched as she finally broke down and began feeding from _Donatello_ because he was tired of watching her suffer from the lack of blood.

Goddess had needed them as much as they had needed her. If they had been lonely, she had been desolate. She protected them with everything she had, and in the end, it had cost her her life.

The books all snapped shut and vanished. Michelangelo fell to his knees tears streaming down his cheeks. Donatello wiped away the wetness that had flowed down his own cheeks.

"That is how I became the biggest monster out there, and why your counterparts did not fear me. I was powerless, I was no longer a god, I was just...Katherine, perhaps, eventually. As the circle of Fate began to close, Goddess' soul rang with Katherine's, she began to think and act and feel like Katherine." Darkness said softly.

Darkness knelt down and helped Michelangelo to his feet gently putting him in the chair.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I am so sorry I made you relive that. I didn't mean, I didn't know." Michelangelo said wretchedly.

Darkness smiled. "It all happened a long time ago Michelangelo. The past is the past, literally another lifetime ago." She said gently.

"What happened to them?" Raphael asked. Raphael was pale, his face wet with hastily removed tears.

No books appeared on the table. "I have no memories of what happened to them after Goddess died, and I have never asked."

"You never asked?" Donatello said incredulous.

"I have never asked how they lived, because I never needed to. I know what transpired. Not the specifics, but knowing each as I do, I can guess the events that happened following her death. I know how they died, and I know what they suffered here in the Afterlife. I could not protect them, and this pains me."

"Michelangelo mentioned something about what the other Raphael suffered, and the other Donatello was now suffering because of it." Raphael asked.

A book appeared on the table. Mon was looking at her with worried eyes. The screen began playing images of _Raphael_ dressed in gladiatorial gear fighting other gladiators. Most of the times he won, but the times he didn't win were brutal. Since _Raphael_ was already dead he technically couldn't die. His body would eventually shut down because it couldn't take the damage anymore. One image showed _Raphael _being de-shelled. Even Donatello could not help it as his body tried to puke but was unable to.

"That was The Pit. It is what Raphael endured for seven years. Darkness was the patron god he fought for. I of course do not remember it, and Darkness could never understand it. Darkness did not view death as bad, nor did It understand pain, loss, or any emotion at all. It also could not hear or see what went on." She said softly. Darkness did not watch the image as it was obviously too painful for her to watch.

"So what are you protecting Raphael from now?" Donatello asked quietly. He wanted to know what it was.

A book appeared on the table. Leonardo leapt up and prevented the book from opening.

"You don't want to watch. Trust me." Leonardo said to him.

The image appeared anyway. _Leonardo _was slumped on the ground unconscious. _Donatello_ had pinned Darkness to the wall, but then it was no longer Darkness but a Beast that attacked him. _Donatello _was finally able to subdue the Beast and she transformed into Darkness again. He watched in horror as Darkness ripped off _Donatello'_s arm.

"The infected flesh needs to be removed or else it would have spread until it eventually killed him. That was Ryn playing nice. Imagine if she went for his throat. That would be a instant death. You must always remember that even gods can die." Darkness said softly as the image paused. "Ryn thinks as a Beast does. Raphael is her chosen mate and we have kept her from him. Donatello can stand up to Ryn." Darkness said softly. "He is the only one able to dominate her enough to get her to back down."

Donatello frowned in thought. "But if he is dominating her, then he should be her 'mate'."

"True, but what happens when a new alpha comes into a pack?" Darkness asked him.

"The new alpha usually kills the old alpha...oh." He said startled.

"Ryn wants Donatello to kill Raphael. Of course Donatello would not win against Raphael, but Raphael cannot stand up to Ryn. If she finds him, she will kill him because he will fear her and fear means you are food."

"So that is why Michelangelo said that you would need both Leonardo and Donatello, to try to contain this Beast that you become." Donatello said looking at the image of Darkness frozen as she stood against the wall _Donatello_ standing and looking at her from the other side of the hallway.

"But then, why did Michelangelo say that Leonardo was the only one who could stand to be with Donatello, what did he mean?" Donatello asked curiously.

"They share you, but they also share you together, don't they?" Raphael asked Darkness.

"Yes. I often have more than one of them in my bed at a time." Darkness said looking at Raphael who blushed. He looked at Michelangelo who seemed to be blushing as well. Donatello frowned as he wondered why his two brothers were blushing.

"Darkness, please, they don't need to see..." Leonardo began but the book opened and Donatello saw Darkness scrape nails down _Donatello's_ arms. He bled as he moaned in pleasure. She bit him, blood slowly flowed from deep bite marks in his neck. She fed off him as blood ran down his body.

Donatello felt himself pale. _Donatello_ was a masochist. "Yes, Donatello enjoys pain, and he can take a lot of it." Darkness said looking directly at him. "Michelangelo does not like blood, and Raphael does not enjoy pain or blood, and so Leonardo is the only one who can stand being with Donatello, because Leonardo can stand the blood and he can stand a small amount of pain. If Donatello is feeling in a particularly rough mood, he and I are alone."

"What happened to him?" Donatello whispered. "What made him like that?"

"You will have to ask him." Darkness said to him.

Donatello let out a frustrated puff of air.

Darkness looked at a door that appeared on the wall next to her.

"It is time." She said softly. "My fear has made Donatello and Raphael suffer. I cannot risk punching a whole through myself and losing control. I need to fix this in order to help you in your quest to save Katherine. It is time to rein in Ryn and find out if I really am Katherine, or if I am Darkness. "

Darkness walked through the door. They all stood and followed because she hadn't said they shouldn't.

Darkness stood in front of a set of black double doors. "This is the door to my Soul Room, where my soul is kept." She said softly. "I have not been able to access it since I came back, let us see if the door opens."

She pushed at the doors which opened under the pressure of her hands. She walked into a round chamber, at least Donatello got the impression it was round even though he could not see any walls just the vast openness of space.

Darkness stood unmoving in the center of a circle. She was wrapped in spiked black chains. The chains went through and around her, blood dripped to the floor.

Darkness walked up to her image or Donatello supposed, her soul. She pulled the headdress from Darkness' head. Reddish brown, golden hair fell around her shoulders. One eye was green, the other orange.

There was a roar from their left. They turned to see the Beast bound with black spiked chains. It struggled against the chains, chains that bound it to Katherine.

"I see. I have made a mess have I not Ryn. I am sorry, I did not realize." Darkness said as she knelt down in front of the Beast.

"But the Beast bound in chains, that's good isn't it?" Michelangelo said in confusion.

"You cannot bind hunger. It just enrages it more. You must control it." She stood and walked up to Katherine. "It is really you." She said softly.

"We are surrounded by Darkness and bound." Katherine said. "But we were once Katherine." Katherine's soul said softly. "We subdued Darkness because Darkness did not know what actually _being_ meant. Darkness had no real personality or quantifiable perception of self."

"I need to make this right." Darkness said as she stood. "So I need to break it to fix it." She said.

She walked over to the Beast and grabbed at the chains that bound it. The chains shattered. The Beast slowly got to its feet and attacked Katherine's soul.

Darkness clenched her teeth together in agony as the Beast ripped and tore at Katherine's soul.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you to forgottenforever for your review! **

**Hope everyone enjoys this next chapter.**

** I'll be kinda busy next week so I will try to post as many times as I can, but we will see how much writing I am able to do!**

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><p><span>Chapter 9<span>

**Donatello** sat up. He looked around. He and his brothers were piled together on a massive bed with _Leonardo _and _Donatello_ who were unconscious.

"Darkness what did you do?" He whispered.

The Beast stood in the middle of the room. It's orange eyes glanced over at them. It sniffed the air, it's muzzle crinkling in disgust.

It turned and ran from the room.

"It's going after Raphael." Donatello said as he scrambled from the bed.

"Wake him up Donny, wake Donatello up, he is the only one that can stop her." Leonardo said as he rolled off the bed.

"Raph, wake Leonardo up." Leonardo said.

"Why do I have to try to wake him up, we should be trying to stop that thing." Raphael growled.

"We can't trust me, I've seen that Beast attack, there is no way we have any chance of standing up against it. And besides if there is anyone who can wake Leonardo up it's you."

Raphael smirked. "I piss you off that much Leo?"

"You have no idea."Leonardo grumbled.

"Wake up!"Donatello yelled at himself. He grabbed the scarred arms of his other self and shook as hard as he could. "Ryn's out she's going to kill Raph!" He shouted. His other self's eyes opened and looked at him in confusion. "Darkness did something, something to do with her soul, Ryn is awake and running for Raph." He said in panic.

"Hey Fearless you hear that? Wake up and take some responsibility." Raphael said as he slapped _Leonardo_ across the face hard.

_Leonardo's_ eye snapped open. He glared at Raphael. His arm came back to punch Raphael but he stopped as if realizing that it was not his brother. Donatello could understand _Leonardo's_ confusion. Only Raphael looked exactly like his counterpart when fully clothed.

"We've got trouble." He said to _Leonardo _and_ Donatello_.

"Damn it!" _Donatello_ swore as he leapt from the bed. Donatello blinked and both _Leonardo_ and _Donatello _were gone.

"Super speed, how awesome is that!" Michelangelo said as he looked at the open door to the bedchamber.

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><p><strong><em>Raphael's <em>**leg caught _Michelangelo_ in the plastron. _Michelangelo_ went flying, hitting the wall on the far side of the room.

"Darkness is going to be pissed if you break anything Raph." _Michelangelo_ said as he slowly stood up.

"Darkness can fix it." He growled at him as he launched himself at his brother. _Michelangelo'_s fist struck him in the face. He went down hard. But that was the thing about _Michelangelo_ he was always able to figure things out before the rest of them did. It had always been _Michelangelo's_ greatest strength. Things came easily to him, but he always slacked off, and now he saw that he slacked off because he never needed to be the best at anything. If _Michelangelo_ had applied himself, he would have been better than all of them, even better than _Leonardo_.

_Michelangelo's_ eyes glittered with anger. "Do you know how much I hated you." _Michelangelo_ ground out as he stood over him.

_Raphael_ rolled out of the way of his brother kicking him. He rolled to his feet and glared at his baby brother. He wondered if he would ever get used to that hardness he now saw in _Michelangelo's _eyes. Sure he smiled, he laughed, he joked, but underneath all of that, was pain, anger and lost innocence. _Michelangelo_ had lost his innocence because he hadn't been there for him, because _Donatello_ had broken and _Michelangelo_ couldn't handle what had happened to _Donatello_.

"I hate myself Mikey, every damn day. If I could go back and do it all over again I wouldn't have left, okay! Is that what you want to hear from me? I was wrong. I fucked up, okay!" He shouted as his brother vanished. _Raphael _quickly turned but _Michelangelo_ wasn't there.

He fell forward as _Michelangelo_ kicked him from behind. _Raphael _roared in anger and fear as he lashed out with a snap kick.

A low growl sounded behind him.

He froze in fear. He slowly turned and looked into the face of Ryn.

"Oh shit!" Michelangelo yelled. "Raph back away very, very slowly. Ryn, what the hell did you do to Donny, oh gods you finally killed him." _Michelangelo _paled.

_Raphael _backed up until he bumped into his brother. "What the hells is going on Mikey." He said as he pulled his sais from his kimono.

_Michelangelo_ swallowed. "I think she's killed Donny." He said bleakly.

_Raphael _looked at his brother in surprise. He looked back at Ryn. They both took a few steps away from Ryn.

Ryn looked at Raphael and licked her lips. "What the hell is Ryn doing here, and what do you mean you think she's killed Donny?" He asked as fear began pounding through him.

Ryn's ears flattened against her skull as she began to growl.

"Donny's the only one who can control Ryn. If Ryn is here it means, she's killed him." _Michelangelo_ choked out.

"Ryn protected us before, why would she kill Donny?" _Raphael _asked as fear coursed stronger through him. "How could she even kill Donny, Donny's a god?"

"Ryn is the Beast inside Darkness, Darkness can kill us, so Ryn can kill us." _Michelangelo_ said as he stood in front of _Raphael._ "Back off Ryn!" _Michelangelo _yelled at her.

"Wait, is this what you have been hiding from me?" _Raphael _asked in shock.

Ryn continued to circle. "She wants you dead Raph." _Michelangelo_ said as he pushed _Raphael _out of the way.

She leapt at him. She was so fast. _Michelangelo_ managed to block her leap by rolling out of the way, but not before she clawed the back of his leg. _Michelangelo_ screamed in agony. He clutched at his leg but managed to stand. _Michelangelo_ stood in front of him, protecting him.

"Back off Ryn, Now!" _Donatello _yelled as he burst through the elevator with _Leonardo_.

Ryn growled and looked towards him as if she wanted _Donatello_ to do something.

"I'm not killing anyone Ryn." _Donatello_ said as he strode up to Ryn. He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck. Ryn turned her head and sunk her teeth into _Donatello's_ body. Her teeth went through his plastron and carapace. _Donatello _didn't flinch. He stared her down. He grabbed her jaws and wrenched her teeth from his side.

Ryn batted at _Donatello_ and turned her attention back to _Raphael. Raphael_ looked around as 20 other _Raphael's _looked back at him.

Ryn looked at the other images of himself in confusion. _Michelangelo_ was kneeling on one knee concentrating hard.

"Darkness what the hells did you do?" _Donatello _asked her.

Ryn's ears flattened against her head. _Leonardo_ kicked at Ryn's head, but _Donatello_ was faster. He grabbed Ryn's jaws as they were about to close on _Leonardo'_s leg.

Ryn threw _Donatello_ off and leapt at an image of _Raphael._ She went through the image. Ryn looked at the image in confusion. She smelled the image and began sniffing the air looking for him.

The images flickered and as _Michelangelo_ fell in agony. The images solidified again as his baby brother pushed more power into the images.

Ryn looked around in confusion as she smelled a _Raphael _image. She growled and attacked the image again. The image fell and began struggling against Ryn.

"Leo, cut Mikey's leg off!" _Donatello_ said as he tackled the distracted Ryn and slammed her into the ground.

"Leo, help Mikey before the poison spreads too far!" _Donatello _ordered as he grappled with Ryn.

_Leonardo_ grabbed _Michelangelo_. _Raphael_ stood and stumbled over to where _Leonardo_ and _Michelangelo_ lay. _Michelangel_o began struggling against his brother as _Leonardo_ held him to the ground pulling a katana blade from his back. "We have to take part of your leg off Mikey, Ryn's bite will kill you if we don't." _Raphael l_ooked at his brother's calf in horror, it had gone black. Tiny tendrils of blackness were crawling up and down his leg, slowly making its way past his knee.

_Michelangelo_ let out a scream of pain as the blackness began pulling at his flesh. He thrashed as the elevator doors opened and the other turtles tumbled into the room.

Ryn broke from _Donatello's_ grasp and leapt at the other versions of themselves. Ryn hit Raphael knocking him to the ground.

"Damnit!"_Leonardo _shouted as he got up off _Michelangelo._ Ryn grabbed at the mortal Leonardo as Donatello and Michelangelo began fighting her. She pinned Leonardo and Raphael to the ground. She grabbed Michelangelo between her jaws.

"No!" _Leonardo _shouted in horror.

Ryn let go of Michelangelo letting him drop unharmed between Leonardo and Raphael. Donatello valiantly tried to save his brother's, but she just pinned him beneath her foot. She leaned down and smelled the three pinned brothers. Slowly Ryn backed away.

Their counterparts slowly pulled themselves off the floor.

_Donatello _fell to the ground as the black poison began seeping through him at an alarming rate. Ryn whimpered and walked over to _Donatello_.

"Stay away from him!" _Raphael_ managed as he stalked up to her. Ryn put her head down and barked a growl at him. She batted him out of the way. He rolled across the floor and picked himself up. He looked around the room. The images of himself had disappeared. _Leonardo_ was trying to hold _Michelangelo_ down as writhed around on the floor in agony.

Ryn turned back to _Donatello_ who lay on the ground not even moving. Ryn let out a growl as her massive head lowered towards _Donatello_.

"Donny!" _Raphael_ yelled as he tried to make it to his brother in time, even though he knew he was going to be too late.

Ryn's tongue began lapping at _Donatello's_ wounds. The blackness began receding as the wounds healed.

_Donatello _slowly stood up.

Ryn bared her throat to _Donatello. Donatello_ grabbed her by the fur and slammed her roughly to the ground.

Ryn whimpered. "You accept me as your mate Ryn?" He questioned.

Ryn whimpered.

"Little help over here Donny!" _Leonardo_ yelled at his brother.

_Raphael _watched numbly as Ryn pulled herself off the floor and ambled over to _Michelangelo_. She began licking the darkness from his wound. _Michelangelo_ sighed in relief.

"What the hell is that?" _Raphael_ asked in confusion as he looked at _Michelangelo's_ leg. Three blue stylized symbols for wind adorned his leg.

_Michelangelo_ shook his head.

Darkness stood in front of them and opened her eyes. They were a solid black.

"I am Darkness" She whispered as she held a ball of darkness in her hand.

"Darkness?" _Raphael _questioned.

"What did she do?" _Donatello_ choked out as he strode up to her. "Darkness what did you do?" He shouted at her as he grabbed her. Ice began forming on his hands.

"She said, she said she made a mess of things, she said she would have to break it to fix it." Donatello said softly. "I think she was trying to break apart her soul."

A shockwave sent any who were standing stumbling to the floor. Darkness took a step and stumbled, her eyes closing. _Donatello_ clutched Darkness to him. Ice began covering his chest.

_Donatello _stumbled away as Darkness began to glow. Her hair and ears turned white, her eyes glowed gold. Another shockwave shook the floor. The power that flowed over her retreated, returning her appearance to normal.

She knelt down by _Donatello_. "Donatello?" She asked in concern as she helped him up.

"Darkness what did you do?" _Donatello_ asked her worriedly.

"When Goddess pulled her soul back together, she pulled Ryn in with her, but she left the Beast behind because the Beast was not a part of her soul. The Beast should have disappeared when Goddess was killed, but it did not. Ryn fought against being bound back into her soul because Ryn _was_ the Beast and by separating them Goddess broke her. To keep her soul bound together she wrapped it with spiked chains. Darkness was not part of my soul but surrounded it. I broke my soul apart, gave Ryn back to the Beast and merged Darkness and Ryn with myself truly. I had thought Ryn would regain her memories faster than she did. I was attempting to bring Darkness and myself together when she began attacking."

She pulled away from _Donatello_ and looked at _Raphael._ _Raphael _shook with rage. "I don't understand any of this!" He said angrily. "Why didn't you tell me that Ryn was this Beast that was rising!"

"Because we did not wish for you to be hurt Raphael, or even worse, killed." Darkness said softly.

"I'm not a coward, why did you think I couldn't handle this!" He yelled as he grabbed Darkness roughly by her shoulders.

"I never said you were a coward." She said to him. "Ryn wanted you, because she wished for her 'mate'. We knew you would show her nothing but fear and we were correct. Donatello could control Ryn, which meant that she wanted Donatello to kill you to make him her 'mate'. Donatello refused. Ryn's bite is excruciatingly painful, you have to remove the limb or the flesh. We did not want you to suffer any flashbacks from the Pit."

"So what, you got Donny to sacrifice himself to save me?" _Raphael _angrily pointed to _Donatello._ "So because Donny can take pain, he was the one who had to deal with Ryn?"

"Because he was _able_ to handle the pain he was able to subdue Ryn. Leonardo and Michelangelo both tried to subdue her, but only Donatello was actually able to do it. We did not wish to keep this from you." She said softly. "I am sorry Raphael, but, I love you too much to lose you." She shook her head. "I couldn't lose you after I had finally found you again. I couldn't lose you to Ryn's jaws, and I could not loose you to your own broken mind and soul." She said softly. "Hate me if you wish." She said softly. She stepped away from him. _Raphael _pulled her close crushing her to him.

"How many." He whispered. "How many times did Ryn get her claws into Donny that he had to have something ripped or cut off?" He asked as he looked at _Donatello_ in agony.

"It's not important Raph." _Donatello_ said crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"Bullshit it isn't important!" _Raphael _yelled. He pulled himself from Darkness' embrace and stomped over to _Donatello._ "How many?" He growled.

_Donatello's_ eyes flickered to gold and back to brown. He looked at his brother's face in confusion.

"Seven." _Donatello _began. _Raphael_ ground his teeth together. "Teen." He finished.

_Leonardo_ looked at him in shock. "Donny!" _Leonardo_ said in horror. "I don't remember Ryn even rising that many times."

Darkness shook her head. "She rose more than that." She said softly. "That number is how many times he was unable to avoid her jaws or claws. Ryn is gone, but her Beast is still a part of me." She said softly.

She looked at _Michelangelo _then. She gave a slight bow. "I acknowledge your rising Mealltair" The name sounded like Mayalttar as she bowed to _Michelangelo_.

_Michelangelo's_ form shimmered and began to glow gold. A man stood in his place. He had brownish blonde hair and brown eyes set into a handsome face. His coffee and cream coloured skin glowed slightly.

Mealltair knelt on the floor in front of her. "Darkness, mother of all, destroyer of all. I humbly accept your acknowledgement." He said softly.

"What the hells is going on, what happened to Mikey? " _Raphael _said in panic.

"Rise Mealltair." Darkness said softly.

Mealltair stood, his form shimmered again and _Michelangelo_ stood in his place.

_Michelangelo _looked at his hands turning then this way and that. He grinned wickedly and laughed.

"I'm right here Raph." _Michelangelo_ said as his form shifted again. He looked at his human hands.

"Darkness, what is happening to him?" _Leonardo _asked. "What did Ryn's claws do to him?" He asked, concern heavy in his voice.

"Allow me to introduce to you the Trickster Mealltair. Located in the T'lae-ran pantheon as Marwolaeth Yn Annwyl's Consort." Darkness said softly.

"Wait, what?" _Raphael_ said in confusion.

"Michelangelo is no longer just a Consort, he is god in his own right. He has attained his godhede." Darkness said as she pointed to the stylized wind marking in Michelangelo's leg. "So because Ryn clawed him..." _Raphael_ began.

Darkness shook her head. "He has been showing signs for a while now. That is why Michelangelo projected all the time. It took time, but eventually he finally came into his powers." She said with a smile.

"Wait so you're saying that eventually we will all become gods of something?" _Raphael _asked in surprise.

"Perhaps" She said simply.

"No I don't care." _Raphael _said shaking off his thoughts. He strode over to _Donatello_. "Donny you...what's wrong?" He asked as his brother fell to his knees in pain. Black veins began crawling beneath his brother's skin, his eyes turned golden.

Darkness knelt down in front of _Donatello_ and pulled him close. "I'm sorry Donatello, I should have stopped her, for I had guessed what she had intended." She said softly.

"Darkness what the hells is wrong with him?" _Raphael_ asked in worry.

_Leonardo _knelt down in front of _Donatello_. "Is it Ryn's bite?" _Leonardo_ asked in concern.

"Yes." Darkness said as she pulled _Donatello_ closer.

_Michelangelo_ swallowed. "Is he dying?" He asked as his form shimmered back to normal.

"No." She said softly. "But I think he wishes he was." She said softly. "Ryn infected him." _Donatello _screamed in pain.

"Wait, what do you mean Ryn infected him?" _Raphael _asked in horror.

"Donatello was bitten so many times." She said wretchedly. "Claimed to be Ryn's mate so many times, but Ryn was just a Beast she didn't know what he was talking about. She only knew that he was not her chosen mate, but when Donatello was able to subdue her over and over, she became interested in him. But apparently Ryn's last act, before I merged her soul with mine, was to truly make Donatello her mate."

_Donatello _screamed and thrashed in pain as Darkness held him tightly.

"What do you mean Darkness?" _Leonardo_ asked laying a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Don't fight it Donatello, stop fighting, just let go. If you fight it, it will only hurt worse. It is okay, I won't let you hurt anyone, just let go."

_Donatello_ screamed as a great Beast ripped through _Donatello's _skin. Blood sprayed and splattered across the floor. A great wolf rose up, shaking the blood off it's dark fur. They stumbled back in horror as a dark wolf stood where _Donatello_ had been. Golden eyes surveyed them as its head lowered ears falling back against fur so dark a purple, that it looked black. It began to growl at them.

"Donatello, enough." She said as she grabbed his head forcing him to look at her. "I know you are in there somewhere Donatello, but it looks as if our roles will now be reversed until you learn to control the Beast that rages within you."

The Beast barked a growl at her pushing her to the ground with a massive paw. Darkness gave a warning growl back her eyes flashing golden.

"Can he hurt you Darkness?" _Michelangelo_ asked in worry.

_Donatello's_ ears perked up and he swung his head around to _Michelangelo_. His muscles bunched as he pounced.

_Raphael_ knocked _Michelangelo_ out of the way. He was hit in the chest with the full weight of _Donatello's_ leap. He hit the ground hard and tried to block _Donatello's _snapping jaws with his sais.

A large golden lion grabbed _Donatello_ by the scruff of the neck and dragged him back.

_Donatello_ whipped his head around and brought his jaws and teeth into the neck of the giant lion. Although the lion was bigger and more muscular the wolf was faster. The wolf pushed the lion back as they both began furiously biting and clawing at each other.

A roar sounded behind the two Beasts. All looked to where Darkness had stood. A black tiger-like Beast stood, lynx-like ears pulled back tightly against its skull. Golden stripes marked it's body as it moved its head closer to the ground in a feral growl.

_Michelangelo _stumbled back, his form reverting back to normal. He fell to the ground bleeding from various puncture and claw marks.

"I think I'll let you handle this one Darkness." _Michelangelo _said as he shook his head as if trying to clear it.

_Raphael _knelt down next to _Michelangelo_. "How did you...?" He asked. He watched as his brother's wounds began to slowly heal.

"Well at least we know Donny's bite isn't like Ryn's" _Leonardo_ said as he knelt down to look at _Michelangelo_.

"My godhede rocks." _Michelangelo_ said with a tired grin. "But I think I'm going to pass out now." _Michelangelo_ said as he fell into unconsciousness.

_Leonardo _looked at _Michelangelo_ with worry. His gaze rested on the two Beasts who were looking at each other. "If those two start fighting in here, someone is going to get hurt." _Leonardo _said motioning to their counterparts who had been focusing on staying out of the way on the other side of the room.

The two Beasts began circling. "What happened to Darkness, she used to look like a tiger-wolf thing, now she looks like a tiger, with lynx ears and a big fluffy tail?" _Raphael_ asked as _Donatello_ leapt at her.

Darkness dodged out of the way. The two Beasts began attacking each other. Darkness was just that little bit faster, but just a touch smaller than _Donatello. Donatello_ slammed into her knocking her to the ground. He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck with his jaws. He growled at her.

"Wait, is he trying to," Raphael tipped his head to the side. "Mount her?" He asked as Darkness thrashed in _Donatello's_ grip.

"Looks like it, and Darkness is not happy about it." _Leonardo_ said grimly as he stood.

Darkness bucked _Donatello_ off. She growled. "I think Darkness is done playing nice." _Leonardo_ said as Darkness threw herself at _Donatello,_ claws and teeth bared. She hit him hard in the chest sending him into the stone wall. He crashed into the wall and tumbled to the floor in a bloody unconscious heap.

Darkness shook off her Beast's form. She stood and angrily strode over to Donatello whose form was beginning to shift back. _Donatello_ groaned. She picked him up and slammed him into the wall. "Never be mistaken. I am Alpha, not you, and if you ever try mounting me again, I will crawl in there, rip you out, and Destroy you, understand?" She growled, eyes glinting golden.

_Donatello's_ golden eyes looked at her and closed. _Donatello _opened his eyes and brown eyes looked into golden ones. _Donatello_ sagged forward. Darkness caught him to her. "He's gone, for now." _Donatello_ whispered softly.

Leonardo threw Darkness some clothing for _Donatello_ who was now completely naked. "I never knew."He whispered softly as Darkness wrapped Donatello in a new kimono. "I thought I understood, I thought I knew what you were going through, but I didn't have a clue. Even now I can still feel him in my head, clawing and scratching at his cage. He wants out so badly. His thoughts are chaotic, but simple, hunt, mate, fight, kill, feed. Smells almost have a taste, a colour, a flavour that shapes his world." He looked at Darkness. "He's going to try it again. Having a female dominate him just isn't in his 'view', if you can even call it that, of the world. He doesn't like the thought of sharing either." He looked at Darkness in agony. "I'm sorry I didn't mean..." He began.

Darkness cut him off. "You and Raphael both need to fix your souls." She said with a shake of her head. Darkness looked at him. "Raphael the time has come for you to face your fears and fix your tattered soul. Donatello, you need to merge with your Beast so that you are in control in your wolf form, not the Beast." Darkness said as _Raphael_ and _Donatello_ vanished.

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><p><strong>Oh the drama LOL. <strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you to forgottenforever, i love Athrun and Harbinger for your reveiws!**

**(Harbinger: In answer to your question, No. _Raphael_ lost his magic when he died, but I have plans for him. *hehe*)**

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><p><span>Chapter 10<span>

**_Leonardo_** blinked in surprise as both of his brothers disappeared. "Darkness where...?" He asked her.

Her shoulders sagged as she wavered on her feet. _Leonardo _scooped her up. "They are on the roof." She said softly as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I need to sleep." She said groggily.

He clutched her close. He looked at her sleeping face. He always liked watching her sleep. It was the only time she ever seemed to be at peace. He frowned. But she never needed to actually sleep, which meant that crossing over had taken up an incredible amount of power. He looked at _Michelangelo_ who was still lying on the floor unconscious. He sighed. He had probably overdone it as well.

His counterpart and his brothers walked over to him.

"Things always this excitin'?" Raphael asked.

He smirked. "You have no idea." He said. He hefted Darkness up closer to his body. Leonardo and Raphael hefted _Michelangelo _off the floor. He gave a nod of approval. They walked to the elevator in silence. "You would think that after all of these years I would get used to this." He grumbled. He looked at his counterparts as they got into the elevator. "We'll put Mikey in his room. I don't know how long Donny and Raph are going to be." He said with a shrug as they exited the elevator. "Just toss him on his bed. You four had better get some sleep. Unlike some of us you are still mortal, you need to rest." _Leonardo_ said as he left them to deal with their own sleeping arrangements.

He took Darkness to her room and lay her down on the bed. "I'm glad our girls are back safe, I was worried about them, and about you." He said to her as he gently brushed her cheek. "You always manage to take everything in stride don't you?" He questioned.

She looked at him. "When you are as old as I am Leonardo, it is hard not to." She said with a soft smile.

He shook his head. "Only what, 1012 years old this time around?"

"Only." She said with a self depreciating smile.

He wondered then what it would be like to be that old, to have lived that long? He wondered what it would be like thousands of years from now. Would their family still be together, or will it have fallen apart by then? What kind of creature would he be in 1000 years, 2000 years? Would he even remember what it was like to be mortal? He looked into Darkness' ancient eyes. Sometimes he forgot how very old she was. How she had memories stretching back millions upon millions of years, and now with the memories of Darkness floating in her head, she would remember when there was not even the concept of time, life, or even light.

"Believe it or not, the years will go quickly. You will blink and a thousand years will have passed. You may or may not remember what is was like to be mortal, sometimes gods forget the longer they _are_, but we will see. I will always be here to remind you." She said softly. She pulled him into her. "Make love to me Leonardo, it has been a while." She said huskily.

"I thought you needed to sleep?" He asked as he began pulling off Darkness' clothing.

"I do, but later, right now, I want you. I want to feel you in me, on me. I want you everywhere." Her voice had begun to ride softly along his skin. Whatever she had done to herself and Donatello, it was apparent that there was still part of her that was vampiric, which made her voice almost tangible in its lust.

"Are you going to make me pass out again?" He questioned her as he rolled her on top of her.

"Not this time." She said with a sinful smile. "But I may still wish to taste you."

His lips quirked up at the corner. "And what if I don't feel like being bitten?" He asked as he nipped at her neck with his own teeth. She gasped as she arched against him.

"Then I won't bite you." She said softly.

"It has been a while since it was just you and I, hasn't it?" He questioned.

"Yes. It has been some time since I have been one on one with any of you." She said as she pulled him in for a kiss.

He growled into her mouth as possessiveness rolled through him. He had gotten used to sharing, it no longer bothered him, but there were still moments he wished that she was his and his alone. But right at this moment her mind, her body, and her very soul were focused entirely upon him, and he was not going to squander the opportunity. He possessively clutched his wife to him as he made love to her.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Leonardo <em>**looked at his wife who was curled into him and sleeping soundly. He kissed her cheek lightly. "Would you have preferred him I wonder?" He asked her quietly knowing that she could probably still hear him. She may be sleeping, but even in sleep she tended to be, aware, was the best way he could think of it as.

"Leonardo, if you infer one more thing about your double I shall kick you from my bed." She growled.

"That was not an answer Darkness." He said softly as he brushed a stray bit of shadow from her face. Sometimes her wings and hair tended to get less solid, it was during these times that he knew she had overtaxed her powers. He knew he should let her sleep and yet he pressed anyway.

She sighed as she opened her eyes and looked at him. "I do not prefer your counterpart. I want to have sex with him yes, but only if you joined in." She said to him bluntly. "But it isn't going to happen and as interesting as it would be, he walks a different path."

He blinked in surprise as he mulled over what she had told him. He looked into his wife's eyes. She had the inability to lie so she was telling the truth. He had learned early on that there were very few things that were taboo in the bedroom with her. She may have been a virgin goddess, but she had thousands of years of being exposed to the sexual wants and desires of the gods, and the gods were imaginative.

"You don't prefer him?" He asked again.

"No." She said simply.

"But how can you not prefer him?" He pressed anyway. He didn't know why his other self had gotten under his skin so badly.

Darkness looked at him. "Explain." She said to him.

"He's like me, but better." He said softly.

"How so?" She wondered.

"For one, he doesn't look like he was blown up." He said as he looked at himself. He had no illusions as to the current state of his body. He was a mess, even though his scars looked better than they had, it still bothered him, or he supposed it did because just looking at his unscarred counterpart pissed him off. "And obviously he is a better leader than I ever was. They are all still together." He said softly.

She sat up and looked at him. The light played with her hair ducking and weaving through the strands of shadow. It was times like these he wondered if it was Light, just saying hello, or possibly more than just hello, he wasn't sure. Light loved Darkness, but he wasn't exactly sure how. All he knew was that sometimes it felt as if there were way too many people in love with his wife, and he wasn't even counting his brothers.

"They are all still together because they have not encountered the situations you and your brothers encountered. Goddess died and it was very traumatic for all of you." She said softly.

"Goddess' death was traumatic, but it just made the fractures worse, bigger deeper, broader, but the fractures were already there, I just was too blind to see them." He said softly.

Darkness rolled her eyes. "Different events, different personalities."

"They are exactly like us, they are us." He insisted.

"Yes and no. Their Raphael is less jealous even though his darker half is close to the surface. As for your counterpart, his dark side is closer to the surface than yours ever was. Their Donatello is less reserved and more content, and their Michelangelo is more mature, less given to flights of fancy as ours was."

"But they are older too." Leonardo argued. Darkness shrugged.

"And as for your problem with being half blown up, who do you prefer?" She asked as she looked at him.

He looked at her in confusion as her form shifted until Goddess was lying on the bed next to him.

Goddess lay on her stomach, membranous wings pulled in close, serpentine tail languidly moving back and forth. He looked into her beloved face. Looked at the scars he had memorized and wondered, but had never asked, how she had gotten.

Pure lust roared through him as he looked into the face of the woman he had loved. He looked away. He knew Goddess and Darkness were the same soul, but they weren't necessarily the same woman. Darkness was colder and more controlled than Goddess ever was. Although he had to admit that he wasn't the same 20 year old who had fallen in love with Goddess either. But perhaps it wasn't necessarily the personality or form of Darkness, but rather, what Goddess had represented in his life. She represented a time in his life where everything made sense, when he was happy and in control. He was whole then and didn't question himself, when he had had some little bit of innocence left.

He looked back at her to answer, but Darkness was already gone. "Damn it!" He swore. He quickly stood and then slumped back into the bed. If Darkness didn't want to be found he wouldn't be able to find her. He put his head in his hands. He was a idiot. Memory drifted to him as he recalled what their Michelangelo had said about Katherine.

_She's funny, and sweet, loves to laugh and has a way of talking with her hands when she gets excited. She makes everything sound interesting, and when she smiles it is like looking at the bright light of the sun it is filled with so much warmth and joy and happiness. She's protective, controlled, stubborn as hell, and when she gets angry it is like the sun will never shine again because her anger is as cold and pitiless as the arctic. She's smart and has a way of looking into your very soul when she looks at you. She is honest with herself and with others._

His shoulders slumped. Michelangelowas right. It did sound almost like Darkness. She was funny, but not sweet. She did love to laugh, but she no longer talked with her hands. Everything did sound interesting when she explained it and her smile lit his world. She was protective, controlled, stubborn and when she was angry she was cold and pitiless, but her anger could also burn with the fury of a thousand suns. She was smart and witty and mischievous. Sometime he felt as if she was laughing at the entire universe, as if she knew something everyone else was ignorant of. She ripped his soul open and showed him all of his faults, and was always honest with herself and their family and friends. He sighed. He supposed Darkness was not so different than Goddess after all.

But Darkness was...He stopped as memory and horror slid through his brain clicking pieces and parts together.

"No." He said to himself in anguish. "No Darkness, please, please no." He whispered.

When Darkness had taken them to the other universe and back again he had been too worried about Starlight and Starbright to think about it, but for some reason, it hit him now. Darkness had transported them through herself, and he had never felt anything so terrifying as being suspended in a place where there was nothing but darkness. It had been freezing, and he knew that it would never get any warmer, ever. Even worse than the persistent cold, was not being able to see, hear, smell, taste or touch anything. There was only nothingness. This meant that Goddess' soul had been suspended within Darkness for 1000 years, and from what she had said, and what he had not realized at the time, was that she was aware of every second of nothingness. She had come back for them instead of just falling into the dark or burning out, and she had found all of them broken, and she had helped all of them, and they hadn't even thought about what she must have suffered for a thousand years. He was staggered anew at the thought that she had even come back sane. Trapped in nothingness for 1000 years should have drove her insane.

His stomach churned. He wasn't sure if he was still able to puke anymore but his body attempted anyway as realization rolled through him. He fell to his knees in Darkness' bedchamber as his mind reeled with the ramifications and sheer horror of being trapped within the frigid confines of Darkness for what must have felt like an eternity.

Goddess knew there was one more war that had to be won before the Earth would be safe, and she made sure that the Earth was safe, even sacrificing her own soul to do it, and she had done it because of them, for them and for Earth, but mostly because of them. And yet he expected her to be the exact same woman who had died nearly 1000 years ago, and because she wasn't, his mind and heart yearned for Goddess, even though he knew Darkness _was _Goddess. For some reason he had placed Goddess upon some pedestal of things that could have been, and she had stayed there. He hung his head in shame. And the worst part of it was that Darkness had known this, and she never said a single word to him in anger, regret or sadness.

_Some soul mate he was_. He thought grimly as he stood. "Why do you even put up with me?" He asked the empty bedroom. "Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you let us help you for once? Why do you always have to help everyone but yourself?" He asked in anguish as he lay down in the empty bed. "I don't deserve you Darkness, but then, I have always thought that way." He said softly.

* * *

><p><strong>Raphael<strong> turned over as he tried to get comfortable. He knew he needed to rest, but he couldn't. Thoughts were circling around his head like a hamster on a wheel, and his heart hurt so badly, was filled with so much worry, that it was beginning to choke him.

Suddenly he felt as if he was being watched. The room was pitch black and he couldn't make out anything, but he could smell the scent of flowers coming from the other side of the bed.

"Katherine?" He asked the shadowy shape in the darkness. He was alone, Michelangelo had decided to bunk with his counterpart to make sure he was alright. Leonardo and Donatello were bunking in their counterparts rooms.

"Not quite." Came Katherine's voice from the darkness. But he knew it wasn't his Katherine, the voice was close, but there was something nearly tangible and sexually lustful about this Katherine's voice.

He felt the mattress give beneath her weight. "What are you doing here?" He asked in a strained voice.

"Sleeping." She said in a tired voice. "My Donatello and Raphael are still on the roof, and I hate sleeping alone. Both Michelangelo's are in one room. Your Donatello is not sleeping, but rather looking at my Donatello's calculations to find a way to your universe without ripping a hole through me, and your Leonardo would not enjoy my company. I...disturb him too much.

He looked at Katherine as she yawned. "So why aren't you with your Leonardo?" He questioned as he lay back down trying to ignore her body that lay too close to his.

"Leonardo and I are...fighting would not be quite the right word, more, Leonardo is being an idiot and I do not feel like putting up with him right now. He needs to be alone to think, and I am tired." She said groggily.

Raphael smiled in the dark. "So Leo here is an ass too huh?" He asked lightly.

He could hear the smile in her voice. "He can be. Out of all of the brothers he is having the hardest time adjusting to the way things are here. He does not like being protected or out of control. Here he is both, and it chafes him."

He felt the brush of something that was light, feathery and insubstantial. His fingers automatically reached out to touch what had brushed up against him. He felt himself covered by her wing. He stroked the soft feathers in wonder. He couldn't really see her wing, but he could feel it, thrown over him like a soft blanket.

"So Leo's bein' Leo." He said softly.

"Yes." She answered.

He was silent a few moments and rolled over touching her lower back lightly. She was naked. Every sense he had screamed she was his Katherine, and he had to remember she wasn't. But he needed her. He hadn't even realized that he needed her. He was so worried about Katherine. He worried that they wouldn't be able to save her, and this thought sat like a lump of lead pulling at his heart and soul. He pushed into her back wrapping himself around her. She didn't protest. He breathed in the scent of flowers and felt himself relax, the knots that had formed in his shoulders loosened. He wasn't sure if she was sleeping or not but he had one question he needed answered before he went to sleep. He knew she wouldn't tell him anything about Katherine and what was going on until she actually had the information to tell him, but he knew she could answer the question in his heart.

"Would she be happy with just me? You said if she chose, it would break her heart."

She sighed. He watched her as she rolled over so she could look at him. "You are asking me to give you the opinion of Katherine who, for me, died nearly six thousand years ago?" She asked him.

He blinked at her in shock. He tried and failed to wrap his mind around the fact that Katherine had died that long ago for her. A lump formed in his throat at the thought of Katherine's death.

"Katherine would have probably fallen in love with all of you to a certain degree, but you would have been IT, you would have been THE ONE." Darkness paused. "She could have been happy with just you, but Katherine bound her soul to Donatello's, and Leonardo and Michelangelo are bound to her as well, to a lesser degree, but it doesn't make the love she feels any less strong or any less real. I fell in love with all of my men, of course, I was drawn more to Leonardo, but for me, the concept of loving more than one person at a time was not so strange. On the world of T'lae-ran, marriages come in all shapes and sizes. Having more than one spouse is not considered unusual." She paused in thought.

"Katherine can love and truly love more than one person, so if you get her to chose between you, it will break her heart, because she will always long for your brothers." She said with a touch of sadness, as if she knew the pain of this suffering. She gently touched his cheek. "But yes, if the events that transpired that caused her to be bound to all of you in such a way had not occuered, then she would have loved only you. You would have been enough for her."

He covered her hand with his own and nodded. "Thank you." He said gently. He had needed to know. The fact that she could have been content with just him soothed him. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep with other Katherine wrapped in his arms.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Donatello<em>** looked at the giant blackish purple wolf that stared at him with resentful golden eyes through the bars of his cage. Darkness had told him he had to fix his soul but he had to figure out _how_ to fix his soul. He could have asked her, but he knew she wouldn't have been able to tell him, only he could fix his soul. He was just glad that Darkness had been able to finally access her soul room and fix her own soul so that Ryn was now where she belonged.

The wolf slammed against the cage and growled at him angrily. As far as he could tell, Ryn had infected him with the wolf. But Darkness no longer had the wolf so it now resided only in him. Which meant that Ryn had taken the part of her that had been werewolf and pushed it into him.

He looked at the wolf again. It growled at him. It was angry. It had wanted to mate with and dominate his chosen mate, prove to her that he was the only one allowed to mate with her. It was strange to think that the Beast within Darkness had been female, but now that it was within him, it was male and acted as if it were male.

"My mate, not yours." He said to the wolf. He smiled. He figured it out. Darkness was able to make Ryn play nice because Ryn was human-ish. This wolf was nothing but a beast, but he had been subduing Ryn for years. He smiled as the cage disappeared. "I'm Alpha, not you, and you know what, I don't mind sharing, and my mate can dominate me anytime she wants, but I will not be dominated by you." He said as he launched himself at his Beast.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Raphael<em>** looked at his soul. The last time he had visited his soul room Goddess had helped him fix his soul from when it had been damaged by his encounter with the demon who had killed him.

When he was mortal his soul had been bound with ropes and strung across the dirty New York alley that represented his soul room. One sai had been plunged through his heart, the other had been plunged through his wrist.

He looked at his soul now. His soul was being held hostage by Caligula, the man who had run The Pit, who had tried to rape and torture him. Caligula was standing behind his soul, a meaty arm wrapped around his neck, the tip of his kopis sword pressed against his throat.

"Come on you lily livered chicken shit, kick that guy's ass." He growled at his soul. His soul numbly looked at him. "Come on, so the guy threatened us for seven years, it isn't like he actually did anything to us now did he? No he didn't, so suck it up!"

He threw his sai at his soul. His soul caught it and smiled.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello all, so a little bit of Leo talkin with _Leo, kinda _angsty I guess.=) Anyway we will be getting back to Katherine soon!**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 11<span>

**_Leonardo_** knew darkness had fallen and that the shift was finally over, which meant that they were now on T'lae-ran. He needed to find Darkness. He needed to fall down on his knees before her an beg her to forgive him for being such an ass, and for not realizing sooner that she had suffered a great deal by being bound within Darkness, and that he would help her, however she needed to be helped.

"Castellum." He called out. The Castle's avatar appeared in front of him. The Will of Darkness was the Will of the Castle, so if Darkness still didn't want to be found the Castle would not tell him where she was. "Where is Darkness?" He asked hoping Darkness would want to be found.

"In the spare Bedroom with Raphael." The young man answered as he disappeared. He strode out of Darkness' bedchamber and towards the central ring of bedrooms.

He quietly opened the door and saw his brother lying with Darkness wrapped in his arms. "Raph." He said quietly. His brother opened his eyes. They widened in shock.

"Got your soul fixed I see. One of our counterparts steal your room?" He asked quietly. Raphael looked at him. "So did you spend time with her or did she just fall asleep?" He asked as he sat down on the bed.

"Why Leo, you want to join in?" Raphael asked.

_Leonardo_ looked at his younger brother. _Raphael_ was teasing him he knew. He and _Raphael_ were rarely in bed together with Darkness, they just didn't play well together. "I was an idiot." He said softly brushing a piece of shadow out of her face.

"Apparently." Raphael said as he sat up.

"I just, I put Goddess up on this pedestal, and even though I love Darkness, I still loved Goddess and my mind and body had separated them like they were two different people, which they aren't. They are the same woman, but because they weren't exactly the same I kept thinking they were different. But they aren't. Sure there are small things here and there, and sometimes she acts a little more like Goddess than Darkness, and I am an idiot and I have to apologize to her because even though she never said a word, I know that she knew exactly how I have been feeling." He said as he touched the velvety softness of her cheek.

"Heh. You are an idiot, doin' the same damn thing Daemon did." Raphael said with a shake of his head.

_Leonardo_ looked at his brother and nodded before stopping mid nod. He looked at his brother's unmarked and unscarred chest. It wasn't his brother, but rather the other Raphael who Darkness had decided to crawl into bed with. Anger, and jealousy ripped through him as he realized his wife was with another version of his brother.

"Calm down Leo." Raphael said with a shake of his head. "She crawled in here and went to sleep. I have my own version of Katherine waiting for me at home. I ain't going to spoil it by doing something with your...wife. That sounds so strange." He said softly.

_Leonardo's_ anger and jealousy receded as he realized that Raphael's Katherine was in danger at the moment. Granted he was still not pleased to find him in bed with his naked wife. On the other hand he knew Darkness, and she tended to not do things without a reason.

"Even if I wanted to marry Katherine, I couldn't, not really. It wouldn't be anything the human world would recognize." He said softly. "And let's not forget that if I get her to choose between us, I may lose her and even if she does choose me, it will break her heart because she loves my brothers as well."

"Sharing isn't so bad." _Leonardo_ said as he smiled at Darkness. "Right Darkness?" He asked his sleeping wife. He frowned when she didn't move.

"Darkness?" He questioned as he shook her lightly.

"What's wrong?" Raphael questioned.

"She never sleeps, not like how a human sleeps." But she was sleeping now. "You wore yourself out, didn't you?" He asked her sleeping form. He stood up. He would have to apologize later. "Are you coming or are you going to sleep some more?" He asked Raphael. As much as he wasn't comfortable with him sleeping with his wife, he understood it, and knowing Darkness she had probably known that Raphael had needed her for some reason. Raphael looked conflicted as if he wasn't sure what the right answer was. "If you need more sleep, sleep, you need your rest. Darkness needs the company and I think you need her right now." He walked to the door and let himself out.

"Daddy!" Starbright yelled as she launched herself at him. He hugged his daughter closely. "Me and Starlight were playing with other daddy." She said happily.

He frowned slightly. "You and Starlight are supposed to be in the training yard warming up."

"But daaad, we just got home." She whined. He sighed. She was right. They had been gone for nearly a month and was the worst month of his life, and that was saying something. Having discovered that _Raphael's _daughter and his own had vanished without a trace, had instilled within him a new level of horror and anxiety he hadn't even known existed.

For the girls though, it had only been a little under two weeks. They had tried to get to them as close to the time when that had fallen into the parallel universe, but they had been off. He hoped that _Donatello_ and Darkness knew what they were doing to get back the exact moment they left, so that Katherine wouldn't be in Hell any longer that she needed to be.

He pulled his daughter in closer. "Where is Leonardo?" He asked as he finally let her go.

"We're having a tea party in our playroom." She said happily as she pulled him along.

He followed her down the spiral staircase and into their playroom. His counterpart was sitting awkwardly at the little kids table drinking 'tea' with Starlight. His counterpart's baby brother was also in the playroom watching and marvelling at Trick and Treat's abilities.

At the moment they were in their turtle forms. Along with being able to change to human form, float through walls, raise the dead and thin barriers between the realm of the living and the dead, they were also able to impersonate voices very well. Right now they were both doing a very convincing impression of _Raphael _when angry. Michelangelo was in stitches rolling on the ground tears running down from his eyes.

He was at least happy that Michelangelo could still laugh, even knowing that Katherine was in danger.

He lifted an eye ridge as his brother's sons began a rousing impersonation of himself. His counterpart had stopped and was now looking at Trick and Treat. He sighed. Unfortunately with children they tended to be like mina birds, if something was said they could throw it back at you months later. Trick and Treat were especially bad at hearing things they weren't supposed to hear because of their ability to literally float through walls. Darkness was able to tell where all the children were at all times so she would cut them off if she knew they were listening, but when it was he and his brothers alone, they didn't have that advantage so they had taken to discussing serious topics either during the day or in the Control Room where they couldn't spy.

"Raph, how many times have I told you not to lose your temper, especially in front of the kids!" His voice growled from Trick's mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry Leo, but when you start lecturing me I can't help but get pissed off." Treat growled out in _Raphael's _voice. "And it's not my fault Mikey's kids can float through the damn walls!"

"You aren't supposed to be wandering around on Darkrealm Raph. Earth yes, but Darknrealm, if the gods catch you..." His voice said angrily.

"Maybe I want to be caught Leo. I am so sick and tired of pretending and hiding. I did enough of that when I was still alive. I hated it then and I hate it now!" Treat yelled.

"Raph," His voice had dropped into a frustrated sigh. "This isn't our world, if Darkness says this is the best way, it is the best way. Don't go out anymore."

"And what if I do, whatcha gonna do Fearless, you know you can't beat me in a fight anymore." Treat said tauntingly.

"Don't push me Raph." Trick growled.

"Okay you two." _Leonardo_ finally said.

Michelangelo was still in whoops. "That is so Raph and Leo." He said laughing.

_Leonardo_ looked at his counterpart who was looking at him. They shared a commiserating moment of total understanding. His counterpart stood and walked over to him. Starbright happily skipped to the table and began pouring 'tea' with Starlight.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" His counterpart asked.

He wanted to say no, but he figured he didn't have much of a choice. He wasn't sure how long their counterparts were going to be here for and it was better to clear the air between them. He nodded. He led the way back up to the Control Room.

They found Donatello in the Control Room sleeping on Magi's control panel.

"I see that Donatello has the same habits." He observed. With _Donatello _being a god, he technically never actually had to sleep. This meant he could devote considerable energies to helping Darkness keep an eye on things. The only time he had found _Donatello_ sleeping was when he was with Darkness, if he wasn't sharing her bed, he was usually sitting in front of Magi.

"Yeah. Katherine's been good for him." Leonardo said softly. "He actually pries himself away from the computer and his workroom. She's been good for all of us." He said quietly. The pain in his counterpart's voice was almost tangible. "All I ever did was fight with her." He said wretchedly. "She made me so out of control. I lied to her, I handled her roughly and ended up bruising her arm because I couldn't control my anger, my jealousy. I was possessed by an angel and nearly raped and killed her." His counterpart looked at him in anguish. "I don't even deserve to stand in the same room with her, let alone _be_ with her!" He shook his head. "How do you share? I know myself, I am not okay with her being with all of my brothers, especially Raphael." He looked him in the eye.

He sighed and walked over to the small kitchen. He walked over and filled a kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil. "Sam is probably preparing breakfast, so you will be able to eat soon. It will give your brothers time to wake up." He said as he watched his younger counterpart clench and unclench his fists.

When he had been alive he had also been angry, but he could see the dark side of his counterpart rolling around in his eyes.

His younger self seemed to understand his need to collect his thoughts and asked instead, "Who and what is Sam? Everyone in this place seems to have two names. Darkness seems to call everyone by a different name, even Michelangelo."

_Leonardo_ crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eye as he though how to answer the question. He opened his eye and looked at his counterpart. "Darkness has a thing for calling everyone by their proper names. The only two people who she calls by a nickname are..." _Leonardo_ paused and grimaced. "Well, you'll meet those two soon enough. You see in the world of the gods, even in the mortal world, names have power. Knowing a person's or a Being of Power's real name, can give you a certain amount of power or influence with them. Azazel's chosen name is Samael. It was the name Raph and I knew him by when he was the Orientation Leader for The Pit. Sam was the one who looked after Raphael, protected him as much as he could and literally put him back together after some of the more brutal fights. Sam was a demon, but Darkness made him her...minion would be the best way I could describe what Sam is. Although never let him hear you call him that." He said with a smirk. "As for the children, Astrumlumen, Astrumlucidus, and Cleas, Féirín, those are their actual names, the names mortals call them by when they wish and pray. We call them by their English names because it is easier, as for Hitsuzen, her name is easy enough to say, and although her name means fated we don't actually know what she is yet, a goddess, a spirit, we're not sure. As for Mikey, I am guessing that Mealltair is his Trickster name. Which is a whole other thing we have to talk to Darkness about because I don't really even know what that means." He grumbled.

The water boiled and he busied himself by making two cups of tea. He handed one to his counterpart and walked over to the couch. His counterpart took the loveseat. He looked into the dark liquid and took a sip. "I never wanted to share." He began slowly. "I loved Goddess so much it hurt." He smiled grimly. "I was like you. Goddess and I fought constantly. She tipped my world so off kilter the only way I knew to react was to lash out at her with anger and mistrust. Raphael's mind and body were broken and she was the only thing that kept him sane. As much as I mistrusted her, Raphael needed her, and the fact that she hadn't chosen Raphael infuriated me more, even though my heart broke at the thought of her being with him." He paused as he gathered his thoughts.

"Goddess was so terrifying. You have no idea how frightening it is to have someone that powerful around. She could snap you in half like a twig if she wanted to, and her hunger." He shook his head. "She fed off of blood. We all knew this and the thought of her feeding was horrifying. After she began feeding off of Donny, I didn't really know what to think, and yet, I still loved her, still wanted her. And then it was too late, she was gone and then she was dead. After her death I would have given anything just to have her back. I would have shared her because not having her was a pain that cut so deep I didn't think I would be able to go on living, but I had to because I was the big brother. I was the one who had to keep it together."

"As you heard Raph left the night she died. So not only did I lose the woman I loved, but I lost my brother too. Our family broke and shattered. Donny and Mikey didn't talk to me for two years after Master Splinter passed away. They left the lair and Donny..." He stopped talking because that wasn't his story to tell.

"When Raph came back I was so relieved that he hadn't been trying to get himself killed, but I lost him the same night he came back. I hadn't seen him in 5 years and the night he came back he died in my arms. Pain like that is indescribable." He looked at his counterpart who was looking at him in agony. "Do Raph and I get along all the time? No. Do we share well? No. But we do it because after having found Goddess again, I wasn't going to let her go, even though I nearly walked out on her after she rose from Darkness." He rubbed the scarred side of his face. "I couldn't face her like this." He said. "I didn't want for her to have to look at my mangled body for the rest of eternity. She was alive, she was back, I could live with that. I nearly made it out the door too, but Darkness wouldn't let me go. I'm jealous of you." He continued softly. "You managed to keep your family together where I did not, and your body isn't a ruined mess."

"So if you are so jealous of me, why am I so damn jealous of you then?" His counterpart growled. He looked at him in shock. "You seem to have done okay. You have the love of your life back, and you have added to your family. You have Starbright as a daughter, you were able to have a child. The love of my life is my brother's soul mate, Donny's bound to Katherine, who is in Hell right now, and if we even manage to get her home safely we will never be able to create a family of our own. I told her that she had to choose one of us when this whole thing was over, but..." His voice wavered and broke. "But I know that if we make her choose, she will never choose me." He finished softly. "You never even thought about having children." He accused, switching thoughts.

He looked at his counterpart in shock. "I never thought about having children because when I met Goddess I was 20 years old, and her mortal body was an undead vampire's body. Goddess couldn't have children." He said softly. "Then she was gone. I had loved Goddess for only 2 months, but I mourned her for over 12 years. I thought there was something wrong with me. I tried moving on, had a relationship with a human woman, but my heart was never in it. She had loved who I was on the inside, but she couldn't get past what I was on the outside. After that, Raph's death hit us all hard, then Earth was thrown into a war against alien invaders. We were all too busy trying to save the planet that I didn't stop to even think about having a personal life." He ground out. "But..." He thought about all that he and his brothers had suffered, and what he had now. "But you're right. I wouldn't trade my life now for anything. I love my daughter and would do anything and everything and to keep her safe and happy. I would do that for all of our children." He smiled softly.

"BUt you are right, we never thought about children after we all became Darkness' Consorts. I supposed we had all assumed that because Goddess was unable to have children that Darkness wouldn't be able to have children either. When she told us she was pregnant we all had one of those moments, like what you see on TV where you wonder how it had happened. Of course we knew how it had happened but it was so unexpected, and then Mikey was right, we all wondered who the father was. We all wanted to be the father, partly because we were in awe, partly because we as brothers are all so damn competitive." He said with an embarrassed smile. "Donny tried to figure it out, but according to Darkness the whole 9 month rule did not apply to gods so even if we knew how far along she was so we couldn't even go backwards to figure out who the father was. Darkness knew of course, but she wasn't telling. She finally told us about a week before the girls were born that, there were two fathers and two children. And that set us off again. When Starbright was born I had never seen anything so amazing. Darkness said 'hold your daughter, Leonardo.' And my world narrowed. I held her and realized I had been a fool to believe that she had been any part of a competition between my brothers. Then Starlight was born and Raphael held his daughter in his arms and we looked at each other in shock. We were so scared that we were going to break them."

He looked into the face of his counterpart. "My only hope for you is that you do not have to suffer what my brother's and I suffered. It all worked out in the end, but we did not know that it was going to. I lived for 12 years mourning the loss of the woman I loved and 7 mourning the loss of my brother. If anyone can save Katherine it will be Darkness. I'm sorry I've been acting like an ass." He said as he stood and held out his hand. Leonardo stood and nodded sombrely as he grabbed his hand and shook it.

There was a bang as two young blue skinned turtles tumbled into the room.

"Daddy Leo!" They said in unison. "Uncle Azzy says it's breakfast time." They said happily.

_Leonardo_ looked at the twins in shock. "Why are you blue?" He asked them.

"Because we are sea monsters Rrraawwhhhh!" They answered in unison. They were both wearing shiny blue shirts and pants. He sighed inwardly. At least Starlight and Starbright only had the ability to grant wishes, Trick and Treat were just trouble, and now their father was the god of Trouble. It made sense though. "How are you blue?" He persisted.

"Neat huh?" Trick asked as he turned a sick shade of yellow.

"Neat." He said with a grimace. Darkness had said they would be able to change forms, this was probably one of the first steps. They shifted back and forth between their turtle and human forms with the help of their masks, but he supposed one day that masks on their heads would either disappear or change. "Tell Sam that we are coming." He said as he watched Leonardo shake his sleeping brother awake.

Donatello groggily opened his eyes. "Come on Donny, time to get something to eat." Leonardo said as he pulled his brother up.

Trick and Treat disappeared with a bang. They took the elevator down in silence. They ran into Raphael as he exited the spare bedroom. When he asked about Darkness Raphael had said that she was still sleeping, but seemed to have come out of her mortal-like sleep. His counterpart had given Raphael a strange look but had not commented. They stopped at _Michelangelo's_ room and pulled the sleeping pair from the bedroom.

They made their way to the main kitchen of the Castle which was on the lower level through one of the doors that was not marked with any sigils. _Donatello _and _Raphael_ were already sitting at the table eating as were Starlight, Strabright, Trick, Treat and Hitsuzen. _Michelangelo _looked at _Raphael's _back and began sneaking towards his eating brother. _Michelangelo_ grabbed _Raphael's _shoulder. _Raphael_ grabbed _Michelangelo_ and put him in a one armed headlock as he stuffed a forkful of pancake into his mouth.

"You can let go anytime Raph." _Michelangelo_ said in a strained voice. _Raphael_ let him drop to the floor. He grinned.

He put his hand on _Raphael's _shoulder. "You two were successful?" He questioned as he slid into an empty seat.

"Yeah." _Raphael _said with a nod. _Donatello_ abstractly nodded as he helped Hitsuzen with her breakfast.

Their counterparts slid into empty seats. The table was massive having been built to accommodate 20 people. And this was the small intimate family table they sat at. The banquet hall was something else entirely.

"Daddy!" Hitsuzen said happily as she got off her chair and crawled into Donatello's lap. Her hands were covered in jam and she hugged him close getting jam all over his face.

Donatello looked at her in shock. She gave him a sticky jam kiss and crawled off his lap to go sit back in her father's lap.

"I was feared on the mortal realm for thousands of years, I worked my way up and became a top general, and now look at me, flipping pancakes." Samael grumbled as he tossed Donatello a cloth to wipe off all of the jam.

_Raphael _chuckled. "Well it's your own fault Sam. You could have stayed in The Pit, or went back to Hell, or became a god, but no, you decided to become Darkness' minion." He pointed out.

"Well Sam your talents were wasted in The Pit, and in Hell, your pancakes are delicious." _Michelangelo _said grabbing 8 pancakes and putting them on his plate, drenching the stack in syrup and shoving an entire pancake in his mouth.

"I'm not a minion." Samael said angrily as he piled more pancakes on a plate.

"I'm sorry Sam, what would you call yourself?" _Michelangelo _asked with a grin as he dished out pancakes to their silent counterparts.

"He is my aide." Darkness said as she walked into the kitchen. Samael knelt down on one knee. "But I have to admit that there is a certain ring to the word minion." Darkness said with a chuckle as she picked Hitsuzen up off _Donatello's _lap.

"Mommy!" She said happily as she put a sticky hand on her face.

She looked at her daughter. "For a little girl you sure are messy." She said with a laugh. She looked over at Samael.

"If My Lady wishes to call me her minion, she may do as she wishes." Samael said with a bow.

Darkness handed Hitsuzen back to _Donatello_ and walked over to Samael. She knelt down in front of Samael and tipped his face up. His form shifted from his human surfer form to that of his actual more serpentine form. Darkness had that effect on everyone. She could make anyone shift forms just by touching them. It was an ability that Goddess had had, and Darkness still held that ability. "Azazel I have told you time and time again not to kneel when it is just family. And you are not minion like in the least." She said with a gentle smile. "You are my servant, and the only one I have." She wiped jam from her face. "But I suppose this is definitely not what you signed up for." She said with a laugh as she helped Samael stand.

"You know I would follow you to the edge of nothing and beyond." He said seriously.

"I know." She answered quietly.

_Leonardo_ knew that Samael was in love with Darkness, had been in love with her when she had been Goddess, but Samael was content worshipping her from afar. Samael didn't look like much, but he was imbued with many of the strengths and powers of Darkness herself. Samael would protect Darkness, and by extension them, with his life.

Samael nodded and went back to flipping pancakes. "You five had better finish up quickly we are expecting company." Darkness said to all of her children. "But you all have to help Azazel clean up and you have to be on your best behaviour." She said to them. "We have business to attend, so you will only get a quick visit." Darkness said crossing her arms and looking sternly at the children.

Angelic smiles were pasted on each child's face. They glowed with innocence. Darkness sighed as if she didn't believe them for a moment.

"Darkness, when you have a moment, I want to talk to you." He said to his wife.

Darkness looked at him and he realized that he had made a tactical error. Darkness was going to be really busy. Darkness was good at avoiding people when she didn't want to deal with them, and at the moment, he still fell into that category. He sighed in frustration.

Breakfast was eaten, dishes were cleaned, and they managed to make it to the throne room in time for their 'guests' to arrive.

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><p><strong>Next chapter: the reinforcements arrive, yay! Questions will be answered like What does Hell want with Katherine's soul?<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Answers to some questions in this next chapter! Yay!**

**A/N we are getting very close to the end of Part 2 and if you are worried, I am not going to be evil and end it just as they are trying to rescue Katherine, instead they will go to Hell by the end of Part 2. So just hang in there for a few more chapters!**

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><p><span>Chapter 12<span>

**Donatello** and his brothers walked into the massive throne room that they had seen on their tour of the Castle. He brushed more jam from his cheek. He still felt sticky, but he didn't mind. Hitsuzen was adorable, and strangely her calling him 'daddy' felt, good somehow.

Katherine walked over to the white marble throne. She stood near the throne and the doors of the throne room closed. There was the ding of an elevator and two men stepped out of the elevator doors that appeared where the throne room doors were.

The first man out of the elevator was painfully good looking, around 6 feet tall with jet black hair and piercing grey eyes set into a swarthy complexion. The second man was the same height, had the same quality of handsomeness, but he was fair skinned, with shoulder length blonde curls and incredibly blue eyes.

They both looked grim as they saw Darkness. Their attention turned to the children and they looked at Starlight and Starbright. They stopped in shock. "You found them?" The dark haired man said in shock.

"Uncle Lucy, Uncle Gabe!" The two girls squealed as they launched themselves at the men who knelt down and embraced the girls with relief and a great deal of affection.

Whoever they were it was obvious that they were close to the family. Donatello looked at their counterparts who were all looking at the visitors with varying degrees of mistrust, anger and irritation.

Hitsuzen happily skipped over to the men. She gave the blonde haired man a hug and she tapped his face lightly. She then turned and gave a hug to the dark haired man.

The dark haired man picked her up and looked at her. There was a smear of raspberry jam on his cheek and probably some on his dark Italian suit with blood red tie.

"Hitsuzen you are always so sticky and messy for such a sweet little girl." He said with a white toothed smile. Hitsuzen giggled. He pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket and wiped at her hands. He gently put her down and wiped the jam from his face.

"Now where are those two troublemakers?" The dark haired man said looking at the ceiling. He quickly turned and grabbed at Trick and Treat, who had tried to sneak up behind him.

The blonde haired man knelt down and laughed. "You will have to do better than that you two." He said lightly.

Trick and Treat smiled and laughed pulling their masks over their heads. Their forms shimmered and they took on their human forms. They had blue eye though instead of brown eyes.

"Very impressive." The blonde haired man said.

"Okay you five time to go with Azazel." Darkness said gently.

"But mom," They all whined.

"No buts, you four have horse stalls to clean out." She said as the four oldest children groaned.

They turned and trudged to the doors which opened revealing Azazel standing on the other side.

"Shall we?" Darkness asked as they appeared suddenly in the Control Room.

The dark haired man strode over to Darkness. He looked at her with worry. "I was so worried that you had bad news. I am thankful Starlight and Starbright are home safe." He said as he gently reached out to touch her cheek.

"Don't even think about touching her." _Raphael _growled.

"I do not need your permission to touch the woman I love." The dark haired man said angrily.

"I'm her husband you low life sack of..." _Raphael_ began.

"A circumstance that I am well aware you..." The dark haired man began as he cut _Raphael_ off. Darkness, ignoring the them, walked away and was warmly embracing the blonde haired man.

"Hello my dearest love." The blonde haired man said as his form shifted. A creature much like Azazel stood in his place. Grey and white robes replaced his grey suit with white tie. Grey horns jutted from his forehead, dark grey membranous wings arched gracefully from his back, his grey serpentine tail languidly moved from side to side.

"Kaethryn." The dark haired man growled.

"I'm sorry Lucy, but I felt as if I was interrupting yours and Raphael's pissing contest, please continue." She said to him.

"I'm sorry my love." He grumbled out walking over to her. He knelt down and took her hand in his. His form shifted. Dark brown horns jutted straight back from his forehead. Black membranous wings and a black serpentine tail moved slightly as he stood. His Italian suit had been replaced by black and red flowing robes.

Darkness brushed back waist length white hair over elfin like ears.

"Stop touching my wife, and stop calling her 'my love'." _Raphael _ground out.

"But she is my love." The dark haired, now white haired man said with a smile as he turned and faced _Raphael_. "And it just kills you that she loved me doesn't it, still loves me." He said with a malicious smile.

"That's it!" _Raphael_ yelled as he went to launch himself at the creature or he supposed man.

"That is enough you two." Darkness said in a low quiet voice.

_Raphael _stopped and the man who had been about to launch himself at _Raphael_ stopped. They both had slightly horrified looks on their faces as they both looked at Darkness. Her eyes were filled with darkness, pinpoint stars flowing in their depths. Ice began to form beneath her feet. He was beginning to see his breath the temperature of the room had dropped so much.

The white haired man and _Raphael _looked at each other. They both grumbled out a sorry that was completely insincere.

Darkness blinked, her eyes returned to normal and the temperature of the room returning slowly.

"What was it you wished of us Kaethryn?" The blonde haired man asked.

"We need your help Gabe." She said softly. "I need your help Lucy." She said looking over her shoulder at the white haired man.

Lucy turned and looked at her seriously. "Anything my love." He said softly. "You have only to ask."

"They have asked for my help, but I am only able to help so far, I need some information." She said to him.

Lucy turned his attention to them for the first time and did a double take. He looked from them to their counterparts and back again. "Am I hallucinating or have the abominations just doubled?" He asked.

"Lucy." Darkness warned.

"Sorry." He apologized distractedly. But he was now looking at them with curiosity. "These versions are younger, and prettier than the ones you have, are you swapping them out?" Lucy questioned with a arch look at _Raphael._

Donatello realized then that Lucy purposefully tried to get under _Raphael's s_kin.

Donatello looked at the two men and wondered how they were supposed to help, and what their relationship was with Darkness. They did seem overly familiar with her.

"Luce, enough." Gabe said as he looked them over.

"What would you want with a First Soul?" Darkness asked Lucy.

An inkling began to bloom in his brain.

Lucy blinked at her in confusion. "There are no First Souls left but you. And unfortunately you are well beyond my reach." He said sadly.

"But if you could get your hands on one, what would you do with it, and how would you use it?" She questioned.

Lucy frowned as he thought about Darkness' question. "A First Soul would have an incredible amount of power, but it would be incredibly hard to harness that kind of power, especially for a being such as myself. It is possible though." He said with a shrug. "As to what I would do with one." He paused in thought. "I don't really know. That kind of power would be incredibly dangerous and unstable. But I suppose I would use that kind of power as a weapon since I cannot actually consume souls and use their powers for my own benefit. Why?"

Darkness was silent for a moment and he wondered if she was actually going to answer his question. "They are from a parallel universe." She said pointing at him and his brothers.

"A what?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"A world much like our own but where different circumstances have shaped it." _Donatello _said to him.

"So they are you, but different versions of you from a parallel Earth?" Gabe questioned.

"Correct." _Donatello _answered.

"And so on this world...?" Lucy asked.

"Katherine was taken to Hell." Darkness finished.

Lucy froze. It was as if his whole being ceased to live. "They know Katherine?" He asked softly.

"Azazel has been killing her for centuries, starting with Kaethryn. Heaven has also been taking her life." Darkness said softly.

"Azazel has...?" He asked as if he couldn't even begin processing what she was saying.

"Heaven...?" Gabe asked in shock.

"Yes, but now instead of killing her, Hell has taken her." She said to him.

Lucy stumbled over to the couch and sat down. His expression was a mixture of shock, devastation and confusion.

"This world where they come from, Kaethryn existed, but was killed by Azazel. Now as Katherine she met your Consort's doubles, but Hell has taken her and Heaven has been killing her. Goddesses?" He questioned.

Darkness shook her head. "She is a First Soul, a pure First Soul that apparently has manifested a certain, very impressive amount of power. She even managed to exorcize an angel."

Lucy and Gabe looked at her in shock. "An angel actually possessed someone?" Gabe asked in shock.

"It seems so." She said to him.

Lucy stood and began to pace. He started rapidly firing questions at her in a language Donatello had never heard before. She calmly answered all his questions in the same language. Lucy had paled. Darkness walked up to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked at her in anguish. He began talking to her still in the strange language. Finally she nodded.

"I'm sorry my love." He said as he softly brushed his thumb across her cheek.

"Can you find it?" She asked him.

"Yes. I will do all in my power to help you get her back. Gabe, I will leave you in charge." Lucy said to him.

"No." Gabe said sternly. "I know it is a different version of Kaethryn, but it is still her. I will not sit back and do nothing." He said angrily. "You may need me."

Lucy looked at him and nodded.

"You're him, aren't you?" Donatello finally managed to ask.

Lucy swung his steely eyed gaze to him.

"Yeah, it's him. Meet Lucifer and Gabriel. The two highest princes in Hell right now." _Raphael_ ground out.

Donatello didn't even realize he took a step back until he had completed the action. His brother's had done the same. Death was bad enough, standing in the presence of the Devil himself was something his mind reeled at. He swallowed and felt himself take another step back.

"Oh, I like these versions of you much better. They actually show me the respect I deserve." Lucifer said with a malicious smile and a snap of his serpentine tail.

"You don't deserve any respect." _Raphael_ sneered.

Lucifer looked at _Raphael._

"That is enough Raphael." Darkness said softly. "Lucifer is here to help us. Your jealousy issues are not important at the moment, we have bigger problems."

"If you think for one moment that he is helping us because of them, you are sadly mistaken." _Raphael _growled as he pointed at Donatello and his brothers.

Darkness tipped her head to the side as she assessed _Raphael._ "I have known Lucifer for millennia. I have been betrothed to him twice, once as Kaethryn and once as Goddess. I believe I am well aware of his motives, and where his loyalties lie." She said to _Raphael_.

Donatello's mouth opened in shock. No wonder _Raphael_ was having fits. Darkness had been Lucifer's fiancé, twice. In two separate lifetimes. And no wonder Lucifer was so touchy feely with her.

_Raphael _opened his mouth again but _Michelangelo _punched him hard in the shoulder. "Shut it Raph. If you would stop making such a big deal about him touching her, he would have stopped ages ago. He does it just to piss you off. Now play nice or I'm going to kick your ass out of here."

Donatello blinked in shock. He was so used to Michelangelo getting under his own hot-headed brother's skin, but Michelangelo never threatened Raphael. Apparently his brothers were as shocked as they were by his behaviour.

Lucifer turned his attention to _Michelangelo_, a frown on his face. He blinked in shock. Both Lucifer and Gabriel knelt on one knee. "Mealltair, we recognize and acknowledge you" They said in unison. They both stood. "A Trickster god for the gods. This could be amusing." Lucifer said with a wicked smile. "Your men are rising Kaethryn."

"I know." Katherine said with a smile.

"And this one now carries a Beast." Lucifer said with a nod to _Donatello._ "What are you planning Kaethryn?" Lucifer asked her.

Darkness smiled a devilish smile. "Who said I had anything to do with this?"

Lucifer tipped his head to the side as he regarded her thoughtfully. "I shall figure it out soon." He said with a negligent shrug. His face turned serious. "I need to get back to Hell and make preparations." Lucifer said to her.

"I know, but first I think you should explain to everyone what it is your counterpart wishes with Katherine, and tell them what it is that you have not told me." She said softly.

Lucifer assessed her. "You know me too well Kaethryn." He said softly. Lucifer turned his attention to him and his brothers. "My counterpart is probably planning on using the other Kaethryn or Katherine as a weapon, most likely against Heaven. It is what I would have done. Lucifer would wish to rule Heaven and bring about a new reign, possibly beginning an Apocalypse on Earth."

"Oh come on!" _Raphael_ roared. "We've already dealt with an Apocalypse on Earth, now you're tellin me that we have to stop another one?"

Lucifer turned his gaze to _Raphael._ "I said possibly. It would depend on if he wished to bring about the Apocalypse, which he probably doesn't. He wouldn't really care what went on on Earth, at least not until his power was secured in Heaven. That could take millennia, even with Kaethryn's soul to help him. Demons are weaker the further from Hell they get, so they would be incredibly ineffective in Heaven unless there was some sort of...tip in the balance of power. If Lucifer can harness Kaethryn's soul and use it, he may be able to give his demons enough strength to be able to take on the forces of Heaven _in _Heaven. This would be...an incredible victory for Lucifer if he was able to accomplish his goal." Lucifer finished.

"Now tell me what you have hidden from me Lucy." Darkness said gently.

Lucifer looked at her in agony. "He will have to corrupt her soul." He said softly.

She walked over to Lucifer and placed a comforting hand on his cheek. "How will he corrupt her soul? What is the point of doing this, it is her purity that makes her soul so powerful."

"To corrupt something so pure," Gabriel began. "It creates its own energy. He could use her soul as is, but to corrupt it, the massive amount of dark energy would allow Lucifer to create even more power to share with his Legions." Gabriel said in grim horror.

"How will he do it?" She asked again. Lucifer shook his head. "Lucy." She said more sternly.

"The process of corrupting her soul..." He swallowed. "He needs to corrupt and darken her soul without breaking it."

"What does that mean?" Raphael asked in anger. Donatello looked at his angry brother who's arms were clenched at his sides, knuckles white with restrained rage.

Lucifer looked at him. "It means that when he tortures her to death, he must make sure that her soul will still recognize her body. Basically he can't chop or rip anything off or out. And because he needs her to corrupt her own light, he can't have his demons rape her either." Lucifer said harshly. They all paled. Donatello felt black spots begin to dance before his eyes. He watched as Michelangelo stumbled away and retched into the kitchen sink.

Donatello found himself sitting on the ground. He must have collapsed.

"And if I were him, I would use those she loves to kill her." Lucifer said his voice wavering with emotion. "After all, what better way to corrupt a soul than by changing the fiercest love into the fiercest hate by getting those she loves to torture her? So she will not see demons torturing her, she will see all of you, wielding the instruments of torture, both in tool, body and voice. For there is no greater betrayal than by those you love and trust."

"She'll know it isn't us." His oldest brother ground out. "She will know because she knew that it wasn't me when the angel possessed me."

"Demons are not like angels. They excel at deception. They will be able to impersonate you down to your movements, smell, voice, everything. Every instinct she possesses will tell her that you are the ones torturing her." Lucifer said brutally. "Time will be of the essence. We can only hope that she can hold out for long enough for us to reach her." Lucifer said softly.

"I don't understand why you are helping us. I don't understand why you _would _help us." Donatello managed to get out through a throat that was too tight, too dry.

"I am not helping you, I am helping Her." Lucifer said with a shake of his head. "I must go my love." Lucifer said as he strode to the elevator doors.

Gabriel gave Darkness a light kiss on the cheek. His face filled with grim worry.

"Call us when you are ready. Until then, my love." Gabriel said as he turned and strode to the elevator doors. Both their forms shimmered until they regained their human appearance.

"Hold the elevator." Darkness said as she strode purposely towards the doors. "I have matters to attend in Death's realm." She said as the elevator doors closed and they were gone.

His counterpart lifted him up off the floor. He half stood leaning against his other self. "Lucifer will help because he loves Kaethryn." His counterpart said to him. "Lucifer was being punished. He was turned mortal with no memory of who or what he was. He fell in love with Kaethryn. Gabriel was sent from Heaven to watch over Lucifer. Gabriel too fell in love with Kaethryn. Lucifer and Kaethryn entered into a secret betrothal. Gabriel was officially betrothed to her. Gabriel was going to Fall for her. Lucifer fell in love with the pureness of her soul, so too did Gabriel. But more than that, she loved him in two different life times. That is why Raph gets so upset. Raph's scared that one day Darkness is going to realize that she made a mistake and go to him, or them, since she loves Gabriel as well. And if he keeps acting the way he is he's going to push her right into their arms." _Donatello _growled at his hot-headed brother.

_Raphael _glared back at _Donatello_. "But before she could marry either of them the Archangel Michael killed her. Michael knew that the goddesses rode Kaethryn's soul, so he was sent to kill her. I have no doubt it also filled him with malicious glee to kill the woman that Lucifer loved. Lucifer was also killed that bloody night, and he remembered who and what he was when he was resurrected in Hell. He spent the next two thousand years searching for her. He and Goddess met and long story short they were betrothed again because even though he didn't know what or who she was, she was incredibly powerful, and he knew there was something about her that reminded him of Her. Darkness still loves them both, but she chose us because she loves us now." _Donatello_ finished.

_Raphael's_ shoulders slumped. "Lucifer is an ass, and I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, but if anyone can help get Katherine back it's him and Gabriel. Gabriel I trust." Raphael said reluctantly. "Gabriel Fell about 1000 years ago to help Goddess and Lucifer stop the Apocalypse that was brewing on our Earth. I'd just make sure that Lucifer didn't try stealing Katherine. I wouldn't put it past him to think that he has another opportunity to have the woman he loves."

"I don't think so Raph." _Donatello_ said to his brother. "I mean, it makes sense that he would be planning something like that, but...He loves Darkness. Even if Katherine is another version of Kaethryn, Lucifer would never betray Darkness. And taking their Katherine would betray Darkness on too many levels. I think in this, we will just have to trust him."

"Humph." _Raphael_ said with a shake of his head.

"It's okay Raph. Between Darkness and myself, I think we can keep him in line." _Michelangelo_ said with a smug grin.

"Shut it Mikey. Just because you are a named god now doesn't mean you get to hold it over us you know." _Raphae_l growled.

"You're just jealous Raph." _Michelangelo_ taunted.

"That's enough both of you!" Raphael yelled at _Michelangelo_ and _Raphael._

"Katherine is in Hell right now, and I get it that time is stopped for her, but what if they have already started torturing her?" He asked in anguish. "All you two idiots can do is fight. Especially you." He strode up to and punched his other self in the face. "Stop being such an asshole!" He said to his counterpart who only looked to him in shock, the punch doing more damage to his brother's fist than to _Raphael's _face. His brother shook out his fist in pain. "What the hell is Katherine doing anyway?" He ground out as _Raphael_ rubbed his cheek.

"She's going to play chess with Death." _Donatello_ said as he walked over to Magi.

"She's what?" Leonardo said in shock.

"It's Thursday. Darkness always plays chess with Death on Thursdays." _Leonardo _answered.

Stunned silence greeted _Leonardo's_ answer.

_Donatello _began furiously typing at Magi's keyboard. "It isn't how it sounds. I mean it is, but they don't really play chess. I think she enjoys the visual the chessboard gives her. Darkness needs to think. She needs to formulate various probable outcomes to determine the best course of action to take. Death's house is quiet and free from most distractions. Also Death is a good listener. He may also have a particular insight into the situation that Darkness may overlook." _Donatello_ looked at the screen and frowned as if a thought had come to his head. He shook his head and continued looking at the data stream of numbers that flew by on the massive screens in front of him.

"You guys got a room where I can go hit something?" Raphael asked in frustration.

"Yes, we have a training yard, we'll show you." _Leonardo_ said as he motioned for all of them to follow. Donatello looked at his counterpart. "I'll stay here, I think I can be more use here." He said as he watched all of the brothers leave through the elevator.

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><p><strong>Anyone who has been dying to know what happened to <em>Donatello<em>, well next chapter it is revealed! =)**


	13. Chapter 13

**So how many people guessed that Lucy and Gabe were Lucifer and Gabriel? hehe. Well nothing like fighting Hell fire with Hell **

**Anyway enjoy!**

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><p><span>Chapter 13<span>

**Donatello** looked at his counterpart. "You still have jam on your face."

His counterpart blinked at him in surprise. He felt at his cheek which came away sticky. His counterpart smiled and shook his head. "I almost think she does it on purpose." He said quietly. "She only smears jam on the people she really likes." He said as he looked at him.

Hitsuzen had smeared jam on his face as well. He gave an uncomfortable cough as a blush crept up his cheeks. "So what do you really want?" His counterpart asked him. "I noticed you had been working late last night, trying to figure Magi out, and trying to figure out if there was another way to get back to your world without ripping Darkness apart."

Donatello shook his head. "Magi was impossible to use." He said glaring at the machine. "I tried to think of something, but I couldn't figure anything out. I know we would need to make a gate or wormhole of some sort, but I couldn't figure out a way to actually accomplish this." He said with a shake of his head.

"I left Magi on her Scrying setting, which only Darkness and I seem to be able to understand, though magi's computer operating system is difficult to operate as well." He said with a shake of his head. His counterpart stood and stretched. His white kimono's sleeves rolling up slightly exposing his scars. "When I was 25 I had an idea. I wanted to change everything that had happened. By the time I was 32 I had finished building a time machine." He said as he looked at him.

His mouth hung open in shock. "You, you...but." He stammered out.

"Of course it had been my single-minded obsession for seven years, and on the cusp of its completion I decided to destroy it. The ramifications for the abuse of such a machine finally clicked in my obsessed brain. Believe me when I say I have thought about all of the possibilities to develop such a doorway, and perhaps if I had more time..." He shook his head in frustration. "If Trick and Treat were older, then perhaps we could use them to thin the barrier and have Darkness push the rest of the way through, but as it stands right now I've got nothing."

His own shoulders slumped. "What about the timing?" Donatello asked. "Is there a way that Darkness could bring us all there before Katherine was even taken?" He asked in desperation.

_Donatello_ shook his head. "Darkness cannot exist in the same place as herself. The ramifications of such an occurrence would be catastrophic. Basically the negating nature of Darkness would create the need for an equal creative force. Think big bang all over again, except it would big bang your Earth into nothingness. So Darkness must be very precise the next time we cross over to your world."

Donatello nodded. "So there really is no other option but to allow Darkness to injure herself in order to take us back." He said softly. "But this places her at risk."

"Yes it does_._"_ Donatello_ said to him. He nodded as he understood the gravity of the situation. Both Katherine's were going to be at risk because of the situation they were in.

"Thank you." He said to his counterpart.

His counterpart huffed out a breath and sat down. "Well it isn't as if I could stop Darkness even if I wanted to. She's too damn stubborn." He grumbled.

He chuckled slightly. "I know the feeling." He said with remembrance.

His counterpart tipped his head in acknowledgement. "So what did you want?"

He stared at his counterpart and wondered how he was supposed to ask his counterpart the question he wanted to ask him.

His counterpart nodded and pulled up his sleeve. "You want to know what happened." He said to him.

"Your brother's wouldn't talk about it, almost as if they felt...guilty." He finally answered.

"They would feel guilty." He said shaking his head. He looked at him seriously. "I've never talked about what happened with anyone, not even Darkness. Of course, I never needed to explain anything to Darkness she already knew, and understood, something my brothers never could." He said standing again.

He strode over to him. He pulled the top of his black kimono down exposing his bruised wrists and the scratches that Katherine had left. He blushed.

His counterpart smirked. "Katherine get a little rough with you?" He asked. He blushed even harder.

"It's not..." He began to protest.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting a little pain with your pleasure." _Donatello _told him seriously. "Or so Darkness tells me." He said with a shrug. "That particular quirk of my personality has nothing to do with these however." He said pointing to his scarred arm. "So tell me, what is it you want to know? You want to know why I like Darkness to cut me up, or do you want to know how these happened." His counterpart asked. "But you're smart and you are me after all so I am sure you can figure it out."

Donatello's mind reeled. He looked at the scars as his mind figured out what had happened. The angle, the precise motion, the location of all of the scaring all pointed to only one horrific conclusion.

"There you go." His counterpart said with a smirk as he let the sleeve of his kimono fall back into place.

"But, but..." He stammered.

His counterpart lost his smirk and sat down on his chair. He looked at him seriously. "I've never talked to anyone. I suppose I can talk to myself. After all, even if you aren't really me, it is possible you may at least understand." He said softly.

_Donatello_ crossed his arms over his chest. "I broke." He began. "When Goddess died, something within me snapped. I was devastated by her death, but even worse than her loss, was the loss of my brother. I think I could have stood losing one or the other, but not both. I had honestly thought that Raph had hated us when he left that day. And it was our firm belief that Raph was going to get himself killed. It felt as if my entire being was trapped within an endless black hole I could not pull myself out of. I shut down. I didn't feel anything anymore. I didn't train, tinker or experiment anymore. I didn't eat or sleep most of the time. Leo tried to snap me out of it. Tried to make things like they were. Master Splinter tried to get me to meditate, to deal with my grief, but I couldn't. I didn't want to be able to feel anything again because all feeling had done was cause a hurt that was so deep, so all consuming that, I was swallowed up by it. After Master Splinter passed away I left the lair with Mikey. We couldn't stand being around Leo anymore. He was only trying to help, I realize that now, but at the time, his mask of normality cut me even deeper than the razors I had started cutting myself with."

"I had gotten so sick of feeling nothing, that at least when I cut myself, I felt something. I could finally see the pain on the inside reflected on the outside." His counterpart looked at his scars. "I knew I had a problem, but there was no one who could help me. Mikey did the best he could, but he was dealing with his own grief, and like I said Leo pretended to be fine, he was trying to protect us, to help us through our grief even though he was suffering just as much if not more." He paused in thought and then continued.

"Me and Mikey started talking to Leo when news of Raph's activities stopped. We began desperately trying to find word of him, so we began working together here and there, but we thought that Raph had finally been killed. For 5 years Raph had been a mercenary for hire of sorts. He was hired to go into the most dangerous situations for the jobs he took. Little did we know he was learning to fight better, and control the small amount of magic Goddess had awoken in him. He was working for the Utroms, which is an alien race that lived among the humans on Earth. Humans were, at the time, completely unaware of their existence."

"Anyway Raph came back, and I taunted him about how he was basically a coward for not having the guts to kill himself if he wanted to die so badly. Little did I know, at the time, Raph was already dying. Hun had already inflicted the mortal wound, and my brother fought while his life blood poured out. He died in Leo's arms that night. We sought revenge against Hun and decimated the Purple Dragons, but it did not comfort us. Raph's death brought us back together. I eventually got better, even though the guilt of my last words to Raph haunted me until the day I died." He said softly.

"I had always blamed myself for Goddess' death. I had believed that if I had of figured out what was going on sooner, I could have saved her somehow. But after Raph died, I realized there was nothing I could have done to stop the events that had happened."

"The circle of Fate." He cut it softly.

"The damn circle of Fate. There is no way to stop Fate. It will get you in the end no matter what choices you make. You may delay the inevitable, but eventually it catches up with you." He paused in thought. "After Leo and Mikey were killed in the war against the Patheons, I began cutting myself again. I was so angry with myself for allowing them to go back to the Front. Leo wasn't ready and Mikey didn't have to go, but I let them go anyway and they came back in a box. There was barely enough of them left to bury." He said wretchedly. "I didn't last much longer of course. I suppose I did exactly what we believed Raph had done. I moved closer to the Front, closer into harm's way. Our lab was bombed and I was crushed under a steel support beam." He shook his head. "But death wasn't easy and I encountered a whole new set of problems in the Afterlife. But that is another story." Donatello said softly.

"As for why I like pain, it is because I was young and impressionable when Goddess literally sunk her teeth into me. Her bite was as painful as it was pleasurable. After feeding her so much I was unable to separate the two feelings. Pain became pleasure, pleasure became pain. So yes, I like it rough, and I like a little pain with my pleasure. Having a body that heals almost instantaneously has allowed me to experiment with my pain threshold. How much pain is too much, how much is not enough?"

Donatello's mind reeled at what his counterpart had revealed. It was no wonder his brothers felt guilty. They believed that if they had found some way to help him, he wouldn't be as he is now, but they didn't understand that his need for pain, and cutting himself, were the result of two different circumstances.

"I think besides Darkness you are the only one who could actually understand." _Donatello_ said to him.

It was then he understood. "You purposefully did it." He said in shock. "You have been increasing your pain threshold and tolerance on purpose to deal with Ryn. You were already pre-disposed to tolerate pain because of cutting yourself. You like pain in the bedroom, but it is a different kind of pain and a different kind of situation, but you made Darkness cut you deeper, hurt you worse so that you would continue to build up your tolerance to pain because Ryn's bite was excruciating, even for you. So when Darkness said you two were alone when you were feeling in a particularity rough mood, it was because either Ryn was rising or you were trying to tolerate more pain."

His counterpart looked at him, smiled, and nodded.

"I do understand." And he did. But his mind turned to darker thoughts. "Will I even know if she's dead? Will I even be able to grieve for her for a moment before I am killed if she dies?" He asked his counterpart softly.

"You will have a moment's realization that she is dead and then your death will follow swiftly after. It will feel as if you can't breathe and your heart has stopped, and then you will die." He said softly.

Donatello nodded his understanding. "You don't think we have a chance do you?" He asked him.

_Donatello_ paused then shook his head. "I honestly don't know. With Darkness and Lucifer on your side they are the best chance you have of saving her."

Donatello nodded knowing he had to be content with that answer. It was evasive and he could hear the 'but' at the end of the sentence.

"So what is Darkness really doing?" He asked his counterpart.

"Exactly as I said, and avoiding Leo." He said crossing his arms again. "But I believe that she specifically went there to sleep in the arms of Death." He said softly.

Donatello blinked in shock. "She's what?"

"Knowing Darkness, she has fallen back into the dark. She would need Death to keep her grounded. She is also probably still exhausted and needs to rest. While she rests in Death's arms she will also most likely try to figure out a way to slide between the worlds rather than punch a hole between them. As Goddess she was able to tear open and travel between dimensions, but she only traveled between Earth and T'lae-ran, and that was easy because the barrier between those two worlds was already thin. But travelling between parallel universes is different. All we can hope is that she doesn't fall into the dark too far, and that she comes back to help us save your Katherine."

"Still holding her secrets?" He asked him.

_Donatello_ looked at him and smiled. "I know it seems as if we hide things and lie about things, but we really don't. We hid Ryn from Raph to protect him. We hid the number of times Ryn rose from Leo and Mikey so they wouldn't worry. I didn't want them to be hurt, or even worse, killed. Darkness took the blame, but it was my idea and it was at my instance that we did what we did." He said looking at him intently. "I generally don't lie to my brothers, I'm not very good at it, but this situation was mine to bear. Darkness cannot lie. It has something to do with her being a First soul. Your Katherine probably can't lie either. But this means if you ask Darkness something you have to make sure it is more of a yes or no type question, otherwise she can twist her answer into something that is absolutely true, but does not actually answer your question." _Donatello _said with a shake of his head.

"Worse than dealing with the Devil?" He asked his counterpart.

"Where do you think he learned it?" _Donatello _said seriously. "Lucifer doesn't lie anymore. Goddess inspired him with her ability to twist the truth into so many knots you didn't know what you had even asked anymore. They are accomplished...truth tellers. I could have told my brothers that Darkness had probably darted off to fall back into the dark, but then they would worry too much. They sometimes forget that Darkness will do anything to make things _Right_, even at the cost of her own life. Darkness will risk everything to try to save Katherine, because it is who she is. Having my brothers worry themselves sick will serve no purpose. Just because I understand Darkness the best, doesn't mean I have to share with my brothers. Just because we are all married to her doesn't mean that we aren't 4 very separate and distinct couples. Leo and Darkness are on the outs at the moment. I don't know why and I'm not going to pry. If Leo wants us to know, he'll tell us, otherwise, we try to stay out of each other's business."

Donatello silently regarded his counterpart. He knew himself and he knew exactly what his counterpart was feeling. He was talking normally and logically, but he could see the crushing worry in his eyes, the slight strain in his voice, the tightness of his muscles bunched and ready to move if needed. He nodded at his counterpart.

"But there is one thing." His counterpart said to him. "Darkness wanted me to tell you something, but she did not wish for your brothers to know."

He frowned. "What didn't she want them to know?" He questioned.

His counterpart studied him. "It is regarding Katherine's life, or rather what is left of it." he said softly.

"What do you mean?" He asked as lead settled in his stomach and stayed there.

"Katherine pulled you back from death." He began.

"I know." He said softly. "Leo thinks it cost her at least decades of her life, maybe even damaged her soul."

_Donatello_ nodded. "The way Darkness explained it, it would not have damaged her soul, though she said that exorcizing the angel may have done that. But yes, it would have cost her in terms of her life."

He closed his eyes. "How much time does Darkness think she has left?" He asked opening his eyes and looking at his counterpart.

"This isn't just about Katherine, this is about you as well. That is why Darkness did not wish for your brother's to know." His counterpart leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees."You see, being a mortal Katherine does not have enough power or ability to bring someone back from the dead, and even if she did, the price would have been her life. It is standard payment, a life for a life."

He looked down at himself. "So what am I?" He questioned.

"Mortal and alive, but Katherine walked up to Death and refused to let you go. According to Darkness Katherine bound her soul to yours, which meant that she gave you half of her life to keep you alive. If she dies you are still going to die, but if she lives or if there is some way that the chains can be broken without killing you, both of you will not have much time left."

"How long?" He said through a lump that had formed in his throat.

"Darkness thinks that there was a deal reached between Katherine and Death. She gave you half of her life, what was left of it after the barter. But you see, according to Darkness, First Souls don't live very long in mortal bodies. They burn them out, so Katherine was never going to make it to the ripe old age of 90 anyway. Darkness estimates that Katherine would live to be around 40 if nothing got her first."

"But she's already 21 that would mean she only had 19 years left." He said in disbelief.

"Correct, but Darkness believes that Death would have taken half of that for the payment of not taking your soul." His counterpart said softly.

"So Katherine and I have will have a little less than five years." He said in shock.

"You yes, Katherine, probably half of that. Darkness could feel the remnants of the barrier Katherine put up to keep the demons at bay. That much power is not supposed to be pushed through a mortal body."

He swallowed and closed his eyes in pain. "Why tell me this?" He asked.

"She thought you should know, and Darkness knew that you would not wish for your brothers to know."

"I wouldn't." He said through a throat that was too tight. Even if they managed to get Katherine back, she wouldn't live much more than two years.

"We never know how much time we have with the ones we love, that is why it is important to spend each day as if it is a precious gift." His counterpart said softly. "And remember Darkness is just guestimating, the time may be more."

"Or less." Donatello said wretchedly.

"You have to have hope." _Donatello _said softly. "Because without hope, there is nothing."

* * *

><p><strong>Thoughts? Opinions? Questions?<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**Leonardo** looked around him. The moon was bright overhead and but the night air was still warm. He was still wearing the black kimono he was given. Raphael was wearing a black kimono now as well.

He had been trying to figure out if anything had happened between Darkness and Raphael, but he figured that the other versions of themselves would be extremely unhappy with him if he had done anything with Darkness, and they seemed fine. _Michelangelo_ was gleefully changing and altering his shape, which was getting under _Raphael's _skin.

His own hot-headed brother was going a few rounds with a heavy bag that was apparently very heavy and pretty much indestructible. Though it had to be to survive being beaten on by literal gods. This meant that Raphael was not having as good round with the bag, in fact the bag was winning, which was just pissing him off even more.

"Mikey quit playing around." _Leonardo_ growled at his brother as he threw him a pair of nun-chucks.

Michelangelo deftly caught them and shrugged. "Wanna go a round Mikey?" _Michelangelo_ asked his baby brother.

Michelangelo shook his head. "You'd just kick my ass."

"I'll play nice, mortal strength and speed." He said with a charming smile.

Leonardo looked at the other version of his baby brother. He was so much different than his own brother. There were some similarities, but the confidence and focus that the other _Michelangelo_ exuded was by far different than the unfocused goofball of a brother he was used to.

His baby brother shrugged. They stood opposite each other. He watched for a few moments as they began to spar with each other. They were fairly evenly matched, but the older _Michelangelo_ was by far the better fighter.

Leonardo frowned in thought. He looked at his counterpart who stood beside him watching. "I thought Michelangelo had a bow?" He asked.

_Leonardo_ glanced at him with his good eye. "Mikey uses the bow when there are things that need to be killed, like demons. His nunchucks just don't cut it against demons and other monsters. Same with Donny and his bo. When things have got to be killed he uses the Nightmare Halberd."

Leonardo nodded as he remembered the huge axe that had been strapped to _Donatello's_ back. Leonardo frowned again in thought. "What is the Nightmare godhede?" He asked as he remembered what Samael and Darkness were talking about.

_Leonardo_ crossed his arms. "Darkness killed Heterion, the God of Nightmares from T'lae-ran. The godhede is represented by the butterfly that is on Darkness' chest. She could have become the new God of Nightmares, but she didn't want it, or it has some other purpose. She offered it to both Samael and Lucifer, but neither took it. So she has got to decide what to do with it. I don't know what she has planned. I don't even know if she knows, but she won't take up Heterion's mantle. But here on T'lae-ran that godhede is incredibly powerful, and if Darkness doesn't do something with it soon, the other gods are going to go to war to determine the new rank and file of their pantheon."

He gave a silent nod of understanding. It seemed that the life of being a god wasn't as easy as he would have thought it would be. "You up for a few rounds?" He asked his older counterpart. He didn't think he would be able to win against him, even with his counterpart being blind in one eye, but he figured it would be good experience and he figured he could probably learn a few new moves.

His counterpart shrugged as they took up positions opposite each other. Both drew their katanas and began to spar. He found it interesting that even when he hid in his counterpart's blind spot, he was still able to accurately block blows with his sword. By the time they had finished he was dripping with sweat while his counterpart didn't look like he was even breathing hard.

"You'd have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Leo." _Michelangelo_ said of his brother. "I think the only one who can beat Leo is Darkness, oh and Raph."

_Raphael _smirked. "You wanna go Leo?"

_Leonardo_ frowned and shrugged. They stood opposite each other. The very air began to crackle with tension. Raphael had stopped trying to beat on the bag and was watching the two brothers intently. They began sparing. They started off lightly but began to increase their speed and the power of their strikes as the minutes wore on. Soon Leonardo couldn't even see the brothers anymore they were moving so fast, the strikes of their weapons cracking in the air. Suddenly _Leonardo _slammed to the ground and skidded to a stop. _Raphael_ knelt with his sai against his brother's throat. _Leonardo_ wiped the blood from his mouth and nodded at his brother. _Raphael _stood up and offered _Leonardo_ his hand.

"Nice job Raph." _Leonardo_ said with a smile.

"Thanks."_ Raphael_ said with a smirk. "You still gotta work on your left side Leo, you're still too slow, still trying to listen and hear me too much."

_Leonardo_ gave a huff of acknowledgement. "I never thought I would be getting training tips from you Raph." He said with a shake of his head.

_Raphael _laughed. "The army made you soft Leo."

_Leonardo_ looked at his brother grimly losing his smile. _Raphael _looked at his concerned brother.

"I'm good Leo." _Raphael_ said with a nod of his head.

Raphael walked up to Leonardo. "Almost wish I could kick your ass Leo." His brother grumbled at him. He looked at his hot-headed brother. "But I can honestly say, just bein able to beat you in a fight isn't worth the price he paid to do it." He said softly.

He nodded and looked at his brother's wrists. He had taken his arms out of his kimono sleeves leaving the top of the kimono hanging down. He looked at the bruises that wrapped around his wrists. It was then he realized that sometime Raphael and Katherine had been together. A wave of betrayal washed over him followed by his own remorse. He had touched Katherine, but it was obvious that Raphael hadn't. It was then Michelangelo's words struck him. He had said that they had all shared her. He wondered then if Michelangelo had been with her too and concluded he must have been. He rolled this thought around in his head. He still selfishly wanted her to be his and only his, but he could understand where his counterpart was coming from. If it was a choice between having her and not having her, he supposed he would want her.

"Daddy!" Two voices squealed in unison as Starlight and Starbright came running into the training yard followed by Trick and Treat. An earth shattering bark echoed through the yard followed by the Hellhound that created the earth shattering bark. The ebony hound bounded into the yard with Hitsuzen on its back. This Hellhound looked like an American boxer, except it was the size of a really large horse. In fact, this Hellhound made the Hellhounds they had battled on their world look like tiny playful puppies.

The Hellhound lay down on the ground as Hitsuzen slid to the ground. She pat it on the head and it looked adoringly at her. The hound got up and ambled back the way it had come.

Both Donatello's entered the training yard a moment later. They both looked slightly grim. Donatello smiled when he looked at him.

_Donatello _took a few steps into the training area and frowned. _Leonardo_ looked at his brother in concern. "What's wrong Donny?"

"There is a new God of Nightmares, wielding the Nightmare Halberd." He said softly. "But I can't see who it is. It is as if I am being blocked. The gods were to war, but now, they will not because this god of Nightmares is...powerful." He said in confusion.

"I acknowledge your rising, Chwyl" Darkness said with a slight bow as she appeared within the training yard.

The name sounded like almost like Chool.

_Donatello_ looked down at his hands in understanding. He held out his hand and a great tapestry appeared in front of him. As he watched the tapestry grew larger and larger. Leonardo could not tell what was actually on the tapestry. It was as if the images were either moving too fast, or there wasn't actually any picture. The tapestry shifted so that ones and zeros began scrolling over and through the tapestry. _Donatello_ closed his hand the tapestry disappeared.

Darkness turned _Donatello_ around and pulled down the top of his white kimono, showing them his shell. In the center of his carapace was a white circle inlaid with a black crescent moon that ran around the edge of the white circle. It was a double moon one full one crescent.

"Darkness what was that?" _Raphael_ asked in obvious irritation. "So Donny's what, a god of knitting or something?"

_Donatello l_ooked at him affronted.

"Donatello is now Chwyl god of Fates.

"Darkness what is going on?" _Leonardo_ said as he crossed his arms. "Donny's a god of Fate, Mikey is some sort of Trickster, what are you planning?"

"Who said I am planning anything?" Darkness asked innocently.

"Don't play innocent with me Darkness. Lucifer thinks you are planning something, and I want to know what it is." _Leonardo_ growled.

"But I am not playing innocent. For me to plan something I would have to know what is going to transpire." Darkness said with a shrug. "I would have to know what you are going to become."

"But we are becoming like our children." _Donatello _observed.

"Are you? An interesting theory I suppose, but I believe, incorrect." Darkness observed.

"How is Donny wrong?" _Raphael _growled. "Mikey's sons are tricksters, now Mikey is a Trickster god, Hitsuzen, well we don't know what she is but her name means Fated, and now Donny's a god of Fate. Even I see a pattern."

But Darkness was already shaking her head. "Trick and Treat are not Tricksters. Yes, they play tricks on people, but it is a small part of what they are. Tricksters are as powerful as they are dangerous. Tricksters can create and destroy. They can be as foolish as they are wise. They play and live outside of the rules and constantly break them. Tricksters are feared because of all of these traits. So it will be that Michelangelo will be the only one able to use his powers on the other Earth."

"Goddess was a Trickster." _Donatello _said in surprise.

"Yes, though she was never foolish she embodied every other Trickster trait." Darkness said with a nod. "When positions of power are vacated, they must be filled. Even if the gods did not realize a position was empty, the universe knows, and seeks to fill it. But Goddess was not an ordinary Trickster, she only ever bothered the gods, therefore Michelangelo is a Trickster god for the gods."

"So Donny is a god of Fate, for the gods?" _Leonardo_ asked.

"Correct Chwyl is the Fate of gods. It is a very powerful position." Darkness said with a nod.

"Wait, Darkness," _Donatello_ looked at his hands in horror. "You can't." He whispered.

"Everything starts somewhere Donatello. When there is a need for something, the need must be fulfilled. Wishes wished need to be granted." Darkness said to him.

"But Darkness, we can't be like you." _Donatello_ said softly.

"You are not like me Donatello. You can never be like me. You are a god for the gods, because the gods have begun to wonder, and question their own mortality, their own existence, and when this happens something must answer back." Darkness said with a slight smile.

"What have you done Darkness?" _Donatello_ asked her.

"I have taken four men to my bed and made them my husbands." She said softly. She looked at _Donatello_. "Does your Beast wish to run Donatello?" She asked him, her eyes flashing golden.

_Donatello'_s eyes flashed gold and they were gone. The strange bladed weapons Darkness used had been driven into the ground in front of them.

"When are we going home?" Raphael asked their counterparts in irritation. "I... I need to find Katherine. I need to know she is safe."

_Leonardo_ shook his head. He began to rub his scarred cheek. "I don't know. I know the inactivity is killing you Raph, but we need to let Darkness recover. When she says we are ready to go, then it will be time." _Leonardo_ looked at him with his good eye. "You four had better begin practicing. If you expect to take on demons, you are going to have to get better."

Raphael smiled a grim smile. "At least you don't plan on ditching us when we get home. I need to hit something." He growled.

"You will need to be armed with immortal weapons." _Leonardo_ said as he pulled the two bladed weapons from the ground. "Mikey give them your bow."

"Hey." _Michelangelo_ protested.

"You won't need the bow to kill demons Mikey. Darkness said you are the only one who can still use your powers on the other Earth. She said you get to break the rules, so turn into something deadly if you have to, and be careful of the demon blood. But I want you to be the one to protect them at all costs, do you understand?" He asked _Michelangelo_. _Michelangelo_ nodded and winked at him. "Raph, show them how to wield the Domkir blades, Mikey your bow."

_Leonardo _threw him one of his katanas and gave Donatello and Raphael the Domkir blades. _Raphael_ showed Donatello that the Domkir blade could change form. He held it out and it elongated becoming a 7 foot long double bladed staff. He also showed Raphael that the blade could be broken in two, so that each end of the blade could be wielded independently for close combat. Raphael was pleased with this.

* * *

><p><strong>Michelangelo<strong> looked at the bow he now held in his hand. _Michelangelo_ strode up to him and looked at the bow he held. "This bow is a magical bow. You and your brothers have enough magic within you to actually wield it. You can thank your Master Splinter for that. Through his teaching he gave you the ability to channel small amounts of spiritual energy, or I suppose if you want to think about it differently, a small bit of magic. Anyway this bow is literally a point and shoot weapon. You don't even have to aim, the arrow will always hit its mark, but because it is a magical weapon you have to remember that there is always a price for using magic." Michelangelo pulled up his left Kimono sleeve revealing vertical scars that went from the crook of his elbow to his wrist on the inside of his arm. "We all have matching scars from wielding the bow when we were mortal. Anyway the bow's price is blood."

_Michelangelo_ took the bow from him. "You'll notice that there isn't a string, just pretend there is." He pulled back on a string that glinted in the sunlight; a blue arrow comprised of energy appeared between his fingers. "The arrow will not harm mortals or buildings or structures, but it will blast demons back to Hell like no one's business." He let the string go the blue arrow turning red as it hit the center of an archery target that was set up. The target came away unscathed but _Michelangelo's _arm wasn't. He looked at the blood that ran down his counterpart's arm. The wound began to rapidly heal.

"Still hurts a lot, but at least I can heal it almost instantly. You and your brothers have got to trade the weapons between you. No one person can constantly wield the bow and still have the use of his arm afterwards, got it?" He asked as he handed the bow back to him. "Now you try." He said to him.

He looked at the bow and grimly pulled the string back. He would bleed a little if it saved Katherine. He let the string go as pain blazed down his arm. He grimly watched the blood fall to the ground and ignored the pain. It had hurt, but it was worth it. "Hey Raph, come over here." His counterpart ordered. "Give Mikey your weapons and you try the bow." He said as he traded weapons with his older brother.

All of his brother's had their try at the bow and _Leonardo_ patched them up as well as he could. It was then that _Leonardo_ gave them a run down on demon hierarchy. Apparently the more inhuman a demon looked the lower class of demon it was, but this only applied to demons that were without wings. Lower class demons were not smart, making them a little easier to kill. But they were still fast and some of them could get incredibly big, like the size of a 30 story skyscraper big. The demons with wings could look like whatever they wanted, and some were so horrible to look at, the human mind could not even process the form of the demon without going insane. And of course those were only the demons. That didn't even get into the power and abilities of the Fallen. Gabriel on this world was a Fallen, which were basically the angels that were either kicked out, or Fell from Heaven. They were much more powerful and smarter than the demons. Azazel of this world was a high class demon, and it sounded like the Azazel on their world was one too. They were instructed to only defend, and not actively engage the demons. Raphael had bristled, but was told their job was to find Katherine which made Raphael accept the non-combative role more easily.

Michelangelo felt as anxious to get going as he did about their task ahead. He just wanted Katherine back safely.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Donatello<em>** watched as the huge cat ran gracefully in front of him while he loped behind her. His Beast was mainly in control, breathing in the scent of the night. They had caught the scent of prey and they hunted it. There was the flash of a white tail that darted off to his left. He veered left to follow his prey. He wasn't sure where his mate was, but he could still smell her scent in the air. The white tail dodged right as it leapt over a fallen log. He was almost on top of it. He could smell the fear of the prey. He salivated at the thought of hot flesh and warm blood in his mouth. He put on a burst of speed as he leapt teeth ready to tear into his prey's throat.

Suddenly he was hit from the side. He landed hard on the ground his mate standing over him. He growled at her. He barred his teeth at her. _Why did you stop me from bringing down my prey? _He barked at her.

His mate shifted, becoming..._other_. "You will thank me in a moment Donatello." She said with a smile as she ran her hands through his fur.

_Donatello_ shed his Beast and he looked at Darkness. She helped him stand as he tried to process a world that was so much more complex than it had been a moment ago.

He realized that he had almost killed the deer they had been hunting. Even worse was the thought of wanting to eat it, raw. Darkness looked at the moon that hung full and heavy overhead. They were in the woods that surrounded the castle on T'lae-ran. Darkness smiled and looked at the night sky. She had always said that the day gave her love, but the night gave her peace. He never really understood what she meant by that, but then, there were so many things he would never understand about Darkness. He may be a god for the gods now, (A thought which overwhelmed him so he tried not to think about it.) But she was still so much more than he could ever be. He knew she had some sort of plan, and even if it wasn't really a plan there was something going on in her head. She was rearranging the world order as they spoke, and slowly, like the pieces of a puzzle, everything was falling onto some sort of order for her. He had tried to see his fate and the fate of Darkness, his brother's and their children, but it was blocked from his 'sight'. He knew without a doubt that somehow Darkness was blocking him, and he was almost glad she was. It would be a hard thing to know his family's fate, because he would want to change it, but he knew that no one could change fate, not even him.

He brought Darkness into the circle of his arms and watched the sun begin to rise. T'lae-ran sunrises were beautiful. Blues and purples blazed across the sky as delicate clouds floated past looking like the most delicate of spring blossoms.

"It is time isn't it?" He asked her.

"Yes." She said softly from within his arms.

"Do you think we can save her?" He asked.

"We must save her soul." Darkness answered.

"I see." He said to her, because he did see.

* * *

><p><strong>Michelangelo<strong> looked as his brothers knelt down and hugged Starlight and Starbright goodnight, or he supposed good morning, and goodbye. He had already given the girls hugs, and he had told them not to let their brothers get under their skin too much. He looked at his counterpart who was looking and his two boys with a mixture of pride, and suspicion. He couldn't blame him; those two were trouble with a capital T. Donatello was giving Hitsuzen back to her father. But his eyes strayed back to Leonardo and Raphael. They would feel the girls loss more than any of them, mostly because they had begun to think of the girls as their own.

Darkness had told the girls to say goodbye because it would be some time before they saw each other again. He supposed it wasn't really a lie. Forever was an amount of time. He could understand now what his counterparts had meant about Darkness not being able to lie, but to never take what she said at face value. Samael led the children away to go to bed.

_Donatello_ seemed concerned and their counterparts were confused. Apparently Darkness was weakest during the day, but this was when she was planning on taking them back to their universe. She had just smiled and shrugged which was as much of an answer as she was willing to give.

"I have some final preparations to make before our journey, also if you see Azazel, get him to send for Lucy and Gabe, tell them it is time." Darkness said as she vanished.

_Donatello_ helped them with the bio-suits and they waited.

* * *

><p><strong>Darkness<strong> looked at the small pit of blood in front of her. Castellum rose up from the blood. The green eyed young man handed over the two swords that had been wielded by the Golden Goddess. Darkness had given them to Castellum when she had risen from the depth of Darkness. The swords were incredibly powerful in their own right. They were both magical swords, and named immortal blades, this gave them an incredible amount of power. She looked at _Cuthach Fuilteach _orBloody Rage. The sword had been wielded by Diemortia and was infused with so much rage and hatred that the one who wielded the blade was in fact wielded by the blade itself. The wielder became a crazed lunatic that sought only to kill and spill as much blood as possible. Her _Leonardo_ and _Raphael_ had both wielded the blade when she had been Goddess. _Leonardo _had overpowered the blade, but _Raphael _had been wielded by it. She looked at the black bladed sword that blazed a malicious red. The other Leonardo and Raphael would not be able to wield the blade without being consumed by it.

She looked at the other blade. _Morte Morosus_ or Capricious Death had a blue blade that alternated between glowing black or blue, depending on if it was wanting life or death. This had been the blade that had brought her _Raphael_ back from the dead. Castellum looked at her in question. Lucifer and her men believed that she was planning something, but she wasn't. Planning would indicate that she had an outcome in mind for a particular purpose. She did not. She had told her men the truth. Sometimes when gaps in power needed to be filled, the universe filled them. When a need was thrown out to the powers that be, sometimes those powers had to answer. What her men did not know, and what she had not known until she truly merged with other Darkness, was that other Darkness was so much more than just the mother of everything, the beginning, the end, everything and nothing. Darkness _was_ the Universe. Darkness _was_ 'the powers that be.' Which meant that she was filling what needed to be filled, answered the calls that had been put out. She was not sure how it was going to all turn out. She was putting the pieces in play on the chessboard and she could give a little push here a nudge there, but she was almost powerless when it came to whatever the eventual outcome would be.

However, she knew that there was something, a position to be filled, and she was the one who needed to fill that position with someone who had yet to exist. But by filling the position it would require her to betray her family. But that worry was for another day.

She looked at the two backpacks that were sitting on the floor beside her. The ones she had taken from her daughters mortal bodies before they had all reformed in the Control Room. She then looked at the two swords in her hands and gave them back to Castellum. She had a feeling that the swords were involved somehow, but they way she believed they were involved seemed impossible. However, att the moment saving Katherine's soul was what was important. She had a few theories on the outcome of their rescue mission, and she hoped that for once, she was going to be wrong.

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><p><strong>Is everyone ready to go rescue Katherine? Next chapter, to Hell!<strong>

**Thoughts? opinions?**


	15. Chapter 15

**To Hell...**

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><p><span>Chapter 15<span>

**Raphael** looked at Darkness as she appeared out of nowhere. They were back in the control room and just waiting for Darkness to arrive. Lucifer and Gabriel were already there. His counterpart had commented that it was nice to see Lucifer dressed up like the Devil today. Lucifer had just sneered. Both Lucifer and Gabriel had come in their true forms rather than in their 'human' guises. Both wore full battle armour, which, according to both Donatello's, was based upon early Roman armour. They each wore a silver metal breastplate, leather tunic, shoulder guards and wrist guards. They both wore a sword strapped to their hips. Gabriel wore a bright blue cape around his shoulders, while Lucifer wore red.

Darkness was dressed how she had been when they had met seen her. She was wearing her robes, her capes, her black shoulder guards, gauntlets and her elaborate headdress.

She stood silently and even Lucifer didn't approach her. Suddenly there was another figure standing in front of Darkness. Their counterparts, Lucifer and Gabriel all gasped and took a step back, weapons ready in their hands.

The woman that stood in front of Darkness was her double, but only if her double was almost her complete opposite. Where Darkness was a pale as the moon, this woman had skin like black coffee. Her white feathered wings arched gracefully out behind her; her white eyes looked only at Darkness, as if no one else was worth noticing. Where Darkness wore black robes accented here and there with purple and blue, this woman wore pure white, accented in orange and red. A golden yellow stylized sun was emblazoned on the headdress that looked almost identical to Darkness', with only two major differences, the first being a lack of visor, the second being her ears, which were not covered. Orange, red and white ribbons fluttered from around the same bladed weapons that Darkness had, but her ribbons bore no bells.

"Light." _Leonardo_ said in shock.

It was then Raphael remembered Darkness saying that the only one who could kill her was Light. Raphael hadn't known if she had meant sunlight, but it was obvious now that she had meant Light, capital 'L'. Raphael realized then that he was standing in the presence of literal Darkness and Light. He wasn't really clear on what this was supposed to mean, but he felt as if he should run and hide somewhere because these two should not be in the same room together. Analogies popped into his head, Oil and water, sun and moon, day and night. Opposites that should not, could not meet and mix, but apparently, someone had forgotten to tell them this because Light leaned into Darkness claiming her mouth in a searing kiss. Darkness wrapped her arms around Light's neck and Light wrapped her arms around Darkness' waist pulling her in close.

"I don't know if I should be jealous, scared as hell, or turned on at the moment, but I think I feel all three." _Michelangelo_ said as they watched Darkness reluctantly pull away from Light's embrace.

"I know my love." Darkness said brushing a hand across Light's cheek. "I miss you too, but my life is here now." Darkness said softly.

Raphael wasn't sure if Light replied but Darkness answered an unheard question. "Yes. We _are_, and we will always _be_."

Light's hands encircled her waist and pulled Darkness in close for another searing kiss.

"Um if Darkness asks us if Light can join in, I'm putting my vote in for a hell yes." _Michelangelo_ said with a smile.

"Mikey!" _Leonardo_ hissed at him.

_Michelangelo _shrugged. "What? It would be nice to have another chick, don't you think so Raph?" _Michelangelo _looked over at _Raphael._

"Last time we met Light she was trying to kill all of us, and she tried to make me into a turtle kabob." _Raphael _grumbled, but seemed to have a hard time pulling his gaze away from the two women.

Darkness pulled away. "I need to go my love. Help me?" She asked.

Light nodded as the two women face each other. They touched hands, palms touching like they were pushing at a mirror. Darkness' lips went blue.

Lucifer seemed to shake himself out of a daze, if fact all of the men in the room seemed to be having a hard time refocusing their attention. "I'm going to need a few minutes to locate the closed gate and pry it open. So as much as I realize you would wish to charge right in, I shall need time." Lucifer said to them.

They looked at each other and all put their helmets on. Raphael felt his world turn black, but it wasn't like before, where it had been cold and felt of absolute nothingness, this time it was warm and he could see, and hear. There was nothing to see and hear, but this time he didn't feel suffocated.

He hit the ground and looked around. They were in what looked to be an old cemetery.

"Stay back!" He heard a man yell.

"Case?" He asked as he pulled off his helmet. Casey stood in front of him, a thick stick poised and ready to bash him over the head.

"Raph?" He asked in confusion.

His brother's took off their helmets. Casey smiled. "You guys are okay." He said with relief as April emerged from behind a tombstone.

"Um, what's with the getup?" Casey asked. "And who are they?" He asked pointing to their counterparts who were still wearing their helmets.

"Long story Case." He said with a wave of his hand. "But we found Starlight and Strabright's parents." He said motioning to their counterparts who removed their helmets.

April's mouth fell open as she looked at their older doubles.

"It's a long story April and we don't have the time. They are us, but a parallel universe version of us." Donatello said. "This is their wife Darkness, and Lucifer and Gabriel. Devil and Fallen. They are going to help us get Katherine back."

April blinked in shock as Darkness removed her headdress. Lucifer and Gabriel disappeared obviously looking for the gate to Hell.

"I…I …" April said staring at Darkness in shock. "Katherine?"

"Not really, but..." Michelangelo began. "Darkness is…Darkness, oh and the other versions of us are gods." Michelangelo said motioning to their counterparts.

"Darkness!" Lucifer shouted.

"Look after these." Darkness said as she gave April one pink and one purple backpack.

"Oof." April said under the weight of the two packs.

"Get as far away from here as possible. We are going to break open the Hell Gate and I do not want you to accidently be pulled in, or for you to be around if anything slips out. Go back to the lair, they will meet you there." Darkness ordered them.

April numbly nodded as Darkness strode off.

Raphael gave a nod to his friends, put his helmet back on, and followed Darkness.

Lucifer was standing just outside of the cemetery hand outstretched mumbling under his breath. He dropped his hand and looked at Darkness. "It is right here, I can feel it, but I cannot open it. Whatever these demons use to close their gates, I am unfamiliar with the incantation to make the gate open." Lucifer said shaking his head in frustration.

"Can we wrench it open?" _Leonardo_ asked.

"All I need is a crack Lucy. I need to know where it is, if you can give me a crack I can blast the whole thing open wide enough to get us inside. It won't be quiet, but at least we will be in." Darkness said as she touched _Leonardo's _shoulder. "Annwn" The name sounded like Aenwen. "Use your sword and help Lucy and Gabe pry it open.

Lucifer and Gabriel looked at Leonardo in shock. "An Underworld god?" Lucifer said in shock. He swallowed. 'For the gods, what…?"

"That is not important Lucy. Now get this gate open." Darkness growled.

Lucifer and _Leonardo _both drew out their swords and slammed them into the night. The tips of the swords disappeared so obviously they were wedged into something he was unable to see, even with the fancy helmet on his head.

"Pull." _Leonardo_ said as they both reefed back on their swords. A tiny crack of orange appeared in thin air. Darkness strode up to the thin line of orange and pushed.

There was a creaking sound as the doors fell inwards and Raphael got his first glimpse of Hell.

Hell was pretty much what he thought Hell would look like. Hot, full of bubbling lava, tormented screams of agony, giant wasteland of nothingness, giant 30 foot creatures of horror circling in the sky. He tried not to pay too much attention to those.

Darkness pushed the gate closed and looked at Lucifer. "I don't remember Hell looking like this." She said softly.

"That is because my Hell hasn't looked like this for millennia. This is old testament kind of Hell." Lucifer said with a shake of his head. "There are parts of my Hell that still look like this, but not too many pockets left." Lucifer thought furiously as he looked around. "Darkness!" Lucifer said to her.

"I know Lucy." She said. "It's moving too fast we need to move. Where would Azazel take Katherine?" Darkness asked Lucifer.

"He would take her straight to Satan himself. Straight to Satan's palace."

"So the top level of Hell?" Darkness asked him.

"No, my palace used to be located in the very depths of Hell, that is where his palace will be located."Lucifer looked around. "We need to find a lift."

"This is taking too damn long! What is moving too fast?" Raphael yelled.

"Time." Gabriel said grimly. "Your Earth and this Hell are not in sync, time in Hell is moving much too fast."

"Can't Darkness here just pop us into the palace like she pulled us into your world?" Raphael asked in frustrated anger. The longer they took to save Katherine, the longer she would be in the hands of Satan, or the hands of some demons. He remembered what the demons had done to Goddess, he couldn't even bare to think what they would do to Katherine.

"I can't Raphael, just as I could not just slide us into Hell. I need to know where I am going, and I don't know where Lucifer's old palace was located." She said with a shake of her head.

"Let's just stick to calling my counterpart Satan shall we. The description is more apt I believe." Lucifer said as he began trying to get the attention of one of the flying demons.

"What are you doing?" _Raphael _hissed. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"No I am trying to get us a ride." Lucifer growled.

"No need Lucy." Darkness said as she shifted. The huge cat stood before them and flicked her tail. _Donatello_ changed shape as well, his ears pinned back in irritation.

"Gotcha." _Michelangelo_ said as he shimmered changing into a huge horse.

_Leonardo _nodded as he leapt onto Darkness' back. Raphael pulled himself up behind him.

His counterpart leapt up on _Michelangelo's _back and helped his baby brother up. Leonardo and Donatello pulled themselves up onto _Donatello's_ back. Lucifer and Gabriel spread their wings. "Let's move. The fastest way down is The Pit." Lucifer said as Darkness, _Donatello _and _Michelangelo_ loped after Gabriel and Lucifer at an astonishing speed. Raphael had to close his eyes because the world was going by too quickly and he was getting motion sickness. Suddenly Darkness stopped. Raphael opened his eyes and looked at why she had stopped. He suddenly understood because 'The Pit' was apparently a huge hole in the ground that looked as if it had no bottom. Imagine the grand canyon, only circular, and no bottom. That is what The Pit looked like.

Darkness' muscles tensed. "I would hold on if I were you." Lucifer said as Darkness leapt into The Pit.

Raphael held onto _Leonardo_ for dear life as they fell. He only hoped Darkness knew what she was doing or else he was going to be nothing but turtle goo on the bottom of a rocky floor, if there even was a floor.

There was a sudden jarring stop and the world shattered around them. Raphael opened his eyes as Darkness climbed out of the crater in the rock floor that she had made with her sudden stop.

He looked around as _Donatello_ pulled himself out of his own crater. _Michelangelo _landed gracefully his wings folding elegantly behind him on his equine back. Darkness, _Michelangelo_ and _Donatello_ suddenly shifted back. Raphael hit the ground with a thud. Lucifer and Gabriel were already standing at the huge black gate that guarded Satan's palace.

Raphael looked around. The Palace was placed on the top of a small outcropping of rock surrounded by active flowing lava. The palace itself was carved from the very rock itself. Darkness strode to the gate sunk her clawed hands into the thick metal and pulled. The gate came away as if it were made of tinfoil. It barely even made a squeak of protest as she ripped it from its hinges.

Darkness frowned as she threw the 3 foot thick, 30 foot high door away as if she was throwing away a piece of paper. "I don't like this Lucy." She said to Lucifer.

Lucifer frowned as well. "It's quiet." He said as he listened. Here in the Pit there was nothing but silence.

Darkness ran as did Lucifer and Gabriel. Their counterparts picked each one of them up flinging them over their shoulder as they trailed after the three people ahead.

Darkness held out a hand and the front door to Lucifer's palace shattered. They ran past the flying rubble. "There should be guards there should be someone here!" Lucifer shouted as they ran into the palace. Lucifer's words were quickly snatched away by the winds generated by _Donatello _who was carrying him.

Raphael didn't know what Satan's palace looked like. He had the vague impression of black walls, depraved sculptures, bones, flesh, blood, but no real clear picture of how all of the elements went together. All he knew was that they were going down, most likely into the dungeon.

Raphael's world went black. They had burst through a door and now he couldn't see anything.

"Darkness?" _Leonardo_ asked in question.

"None of you need to see this." Darkness' voice said gently. He felt _Donatello's _arms loosen as he slid to the ground.

"Darkness!" Raphael screamed. "What's going on, what 'don't we need to see!'" He yelled his voice breaking in horror. "Donny!" He yelled at his younger brother.

"I can't see anything either Raph." Donatello said to him in frustration. Raphael felt the tightness in his shoulders ease. If Donatello was still alive then so was Katherine.

"How long?" Darkness asked.

"I'd say about an hour." Lucifer said with regret.

"Darkness!" Raphael screamed.

"What do you make of this?" Darkness questioned.

"She didn't break." Gabriel said in shock. "They were unable to get her to blacken her own soul. Satan needed to find something…for the soul to recognize, something to bind the soul so that it could be wielded."

"He forged her soul into a sword." Darkness said with conviction, "And used the strips to wrap around the grip of the sword. How fast could Satan assemble his army to crash the gates of Heaven?" Darkness asked.

"Several hours, even if the whole of his legions were just awaiting his orders. Imbuing his army with the amount of power we are talking about would take time, hours at least."Lucifer said.

"Darkness, what is happening?" _Leonardo_ asked. Raphael didn't know how he knew it wasn't his brother, but there was something in the other version of _Leonardo's_ voice that alerted him to the difference. Raphael's heart was clenching in fear.

The blackness was finally lifted from his eyes. There was a figure laying on the floor covered in three capes, one blue, one red and one purple. He looked around in horror at the blood soaked chamber. There were chains on the walls and chains hanging from the center of the room. He remembered hearing the chains moving when they had come in. He took a step towards the fallen figure. Darkness stood in front of him. "You do not want to see her." She said softly. "Remember her as she was." She said gently as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He shook his head in denial. It couldn't be her. It had to be some mistake. "It's not her, it can't be her." He protested, giving sound to his jumbled thoughts. "We can't have been too late." His voice broke. He tried to step around Darkness but she would not let him pass.

He felt his counterpart place a gentle, yet retraining hand on his shoulder. "If Darkness says not to look, don't look." He said softly.

"Katherine?" He asked.

"She's gone Raph." His older brother's voice broke through the thick fog of denial that had wrapped around him.

He looked into his brother's tear stained face. Rage like he had never felt before rose up in him. "If that's her then why is Donny still alive?" He shouted at Darkness.

Darkness raised a hand and the golden chains that bound Donatello to Katherine appeared. They were broken. Chains hung suspended in mid air as if time had stopped.

"The universe has not yet accepted her death. That is why Donatello yet lives. We are in Hell, a place for the dead, the living do not come here and Death does not travel here, so Donatello will live until the universe is satisfied she is dead."

"So we can still save her?" Donatello asked as he looked at the chains that were suspended around him.

"We need to save her soul." Darkness said in answer to his brother's question.

"Then what, we get her soul back, then we bring her back, right?" Raphael growled at Darkness.

"Her soul is what is important." Darkness insisted.

Leonardo held him back as he went to charge Darkness. "Her life is important!" Raphael yelled.

"For Katherine, lives are like the rain, they come, they go and it will always rain again. If we do not get her soul back, she will be trapped forever as a blade used for the destruction of Heaven." Darkness said angrily.

"I don't give a rat's ass if she's had a million lives before, this life is important!" He screamed at her.

"We get her soul back. That is what our mission is." Darkness said brutally as she turned her attention away from him. He pushed Leonardo away from him.

"Don't you dare turn away from me!" He yelled at Darkness.

Michelangelo gently touched his shoulder. He looked at his baby brother. Michelangelo looked how he felt on the inside. He felt as if his whole reason for existing had been ripped away. He looked at his shattered brother. "Darkness is right." His baby brother said softly. "Katherine would want us to give her another chance. She wouldn't want her soul to be used for evil." He finished wretchedly.

He buried his face in his brother's neck. He wouldn't let the tears fall. The tears would break him, and he had to revenge the woman he loved first. Michelangelo was right. They needed to get her soul back, and get revenge for her death. He looked at Darkness. She hadn't said that they _wouldn't _bring her back. This tiny thought gave him hope that perhaps all was not lost. He told as much to Michelangelo who looked at him, a spark of hope lighting his eyes. He nodded and pulled himself together.

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><p><strong>So, what does everyone think so far? <strong>

**Only two more chapters left of Part 2!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I hope everyone is still enjoying this story!**

**Warning this chapter contains violence and gore. It is also very long, I apologize. LOL**

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><p><span>Chapter 16<span>

**Raphael** looked at _Leonardo_ who spoke.

"What now Darkness?"_Leonardo _asked with a grief-stricken glance towards the figure beneath the capes.

"We don't know where they are, but we know where they will be. I have a little bit of my own business with Heaven anyway." Darkness said grimly. Darkness' head whipped around. Her eyes widened as her ears flicked around as if she was listening to something.

She strode from the room, crossed the hall, and entered another locked cell. Breaking down the door with a flick of her wrist. A bloody figure hung from his arms by chains which were suspended from the ceiling. He dangled as he slowly spun. Raphael wasn't sure if the person's skin was red, or if it was just all of the blood. His ribs had been cracked and spread open revealing his lungs and heart. His intestines were piled on the floor in a putrid mass.

Raphael covered his mouth so he wouldn't puke. He could here Michelangelo retching in the corner.

"Azazel?" Darkness asked as she steadied the swaying figure.

The figure opened his eyes and looked at her. His eyes widened as he looked at Lucifer and Gabriel. "My Prince." He spat out. He smiled a gruesome bloodied smile. "Come to have so more fun?" He asked.

Lucifer frowned but looked over to Darkness. "This Azazel is loyal to you as well Kaethryn." Lucifer said in surprise. "He would betray me for you. Interesting." He said as he reached out to touch Azazel's face.

Azazel flinched back from Lucifer's hand, but he looked at Darkness in shock. Darkness strode up to him and broke the chains that bound him. He collapsed against her. He looked at her. "Kaethryn?" He whispered. "But how?" He asked as he reached out to touch her face.

"Not your Kaethryn." She said with a shake of her head. "Their Kaethryn." Darkness said as she laid him gently on the ground. "Your Kaethryn lies across the hall under three capes, her body dead, her soul stolen. Now tell me what it is that Satan intends to do?" She asked him.

Raphael drew one half of the Domkir blade that Darkness had given him. "I get to kill the bastard when he's done talking." He said, his voice breaking in fear and anger.

"No, he lives." Darkness said to him. She grabbed at his broken ribs and began cracking each back into place. Azazel screamed and Raphael smiled grimly.

"You don't get to make that call." Raphael growled back.

"Yes, I do." Darkness said ignoring him and shoving Azazel's intestines back into his body.

Azazel looked at them all in confusion. "My Prince?" He questioned Lucifer.

"Not your Prince, just tell Kaethryn what she wants to know before I kill you." Lucifer growled.

"You intend to attack Heaven with the sword he made of Kaethryn's soul." He said wretchedly. "You should have advanced into Limbo by now."

Darkness nodded as did Lucifer.

"Shall we break down the gates of Heaven my love?" Lucifer asked Darkness.

Darkness grinned a bloodthirsty, maliciously evil smile. "It has always been a secret desire of mine."

"Then let us fulfill that desire." Lucifer said with a bow as he took Darkness' hand.

"Azazel, listen to me very carefully. Take Kaethryn's body from Hell. Take her to the Place of Power where you abducted her from, understand?" She asked, steel in her voice.

Azazel looked from Lucifer to her in confusion but nodded his head. He slowly stood up, his hoofed feet scraping against the stone floor. He ruffled out his black membranous wings. "And stay with her." Lucifer put in as an afterthought.

"We're letting him go?" Raphael yelled. "We can't just…" Darkness cut him off.

"Can and did." Darkness said. "Yes, he killed Katherine over and over again, but in the end he obviously tried to save her. Katherine's body will be safe with him."

He opened his mouth to protest, but Darkness cut him off. "Katherine would not want you to kill him. Trust me." She said as she turned her attention to _Michelangelo._ "Michelangelo, you know the immortal spirit dragons on T'lae-ran?" _Michelangelo_ nodded. "I think that should be an appropriate form, I would choose Feng." She said to him.

A giant golden dragon rose above him. It broke through and shattered the Devil's palace.

Raphael looked at the dragon in shock. It looked like a traditional Chinese dragon, but it had so many coils he wasn't sure where its head or tail was.

"Grab a coil and hold on tight." Darkness said as she spread her black feathered wings. His brothers and their counterparts leapt onto the dragon's back.

They rose and began climbing from the pit. They were moving at an incredible speed. They burst from the pit and began climbing straight up. Level upon Level of Hell passed by them as they continued to climb. Raphael was sure they would run out of sky. They finally burst through another gate which must have been the gate to actually get into Hell.

And still the dragon climbed through grey clouds into dark nothingness. "This is Limbo." _Leonardo_ yelled back at them.

"Wait, if the Devil is in Limbo, doesn't that mean we're going to smash right into them?" Raphael yelled back.

"Limbo's a big place." _Leonardo_ yelled back at him. They burst through limbo and into clear breathtaking blue sky.

The dragon dumped them off on a cloud. Raphael looked down at his feet and wondered how he was even standing on a cloud. He shook his head and figured it wasn't really important at the moment. There was a line-up of people standing on the cloud a little ways away. They all looked to be standing in line to get through the narrow golden gate.

"Ugh, Peter." _Raphael_ grumbled.

They followed Darkness, Lucifer and Gabriel's lead as they began pushing their way through the line up of blue insubstantial…souls (He guessed).

"Hello Peter." Lucifer sneered. "I believe I have an appointment to see my Father."

Peter Looked up from his paperwork and his jaw dropped open. "Lu…Lucifer?" He asked in shock.

"Open up or I will huff and I will puff and I will get her to blow your gate in." Lucifer said pointing to where Darkness was standing in front of the gate.

Peter frowned at Lucifer. "You know the rules Lucifer. You are banned from Heaven. That new demon of yours could not ever hope to break through the gates of Heaven this far from Hell." He said straightening his paperwork with slow taps.

"If she were a demon I would agree with you, but let us just say, she isn't." Lucifer said with a winning smile.

"Just open the gate peter." Gabriel said stepping beside Lucifer.

"G…Gabriel!" He asked in shock. "But…I hadn't heard you had Fallen. In fact you are in Heaven right now." He finished in confusion.

"Darkness, do your thing!" Lucifer said as he turned away from Peter who sputtered indignantly.

"Sorry Peter, you really should have just let us in." Gabriel said with a shake of his head. "We're only trying to help."

_Donatello_ taped a series of taps on his forearm. Darkness walked up to the gates of Heaven and tore them from their hinges just as easily as she had the gates of Hell. She threw the broken gates away and strode into Heaven like she owned the place.

Gabriel and Lucifer looked at Darkness. "What a woman." Lucifer said with a sigh. "And many wonder why I love her." He said with a shake of his head as they all ran after Darkness, wings ruffling in the wind.

"We'll need to ascend to the highest level of Heaven. Our Father is located in the seventh level of Heaven." Lucifer said as he ran.

"I don't think that is where Darkness wishes to go, she probably wishes to speak to the Archangels, possibly the Principalities, possibly even the Powers." Gabriel said as they ran.

But Darkness had stopped not too far inside the gate. She just stood there.

"I see, why go to them when you can wait and have them come to you." Lucifer said with a smile. Heaven was already in an uproar. Angels were flying around in horrified terror. Raphael thought that it looked much like he would think the inside of a bee hive would look like. The Angels flying around right now were the workers, but Darkness was not interested in the workers, she was interested in the warriors.

Lucifer looked at Darkness. "I suppose I shall talk for you my love, since you cannot see, speak or even hear at the moment." Lucifer said to her.

_Donatello_ tapped out a quick message for Darkness who nodded.

Raphael briefly wondered why none on his counterparts would speak up, but Raphael didn't really care, he was here for two things, Katherine's soul and revenge.

An angel with a flaming sword landed in front of Darkness. He looked to Heaven's broken gate, then back at all of them. "Who dares assault Heaven?" He asked. He was stunningly beautiful with olive skin, mahogany coloured curls and piercing brown eyes.

"Hello Michael, long time no see." Lucifer said with a smile.

"Lucifer." His name dripped with hatred.

Lucifer looked at Michael and laughed. "I find it funny that I can actually talk to you since on my world…"

"Luce." Gabriel said sternly.

"Oh Gabe, always ruin my fun, but fine." Lucifer said as more angels with swords began landing behind Michael.

"Gabriel?" Michael asked in shock.

"Let's see, ah yes the whole gang is here. Raphael, Uriel, Aniel, Sarathiel and Zadakiel, oh and look Gabe, there's you." Lucifer said with a wave of his hand.

Michael did a double take as he looked from one Gabriel to the other.

"You thought to trick us with this demon?" Michael growled.

"Of course not Michael, I have really nothing to do with this." Lucifer said smoothing out his tunic. "This _is_ Gabriel. Anyway that is not important. The woman who has been patiently standing here is the important one." Lucifer said pointing at Darkness. "Isn't that right my love?" Lucifer asked Darkness. Lucifer continued since he knew he wasn't going to receive an answer.

Michael sneered at him. "You don't even know the meaning of the word love."

"Oh you are quite mistaken. I know about human love much better than you do Michael. I love this woman with every fibre of my being." He said angrily. "And my love for her has lasted millennia. Your Lucifer however, would know nothing of love; because there was a time I didn't know of it either." Lucifer shook his head angrily. "When I get home I am going to have to thank my Father for punishing me. To think I was something like your Lucifer. To destroy something so pure and beautiful, just to rule and destroy Heaven, what a fool. What a selfish and pointless goal. Tsk."

Michael looked at Lucifer with his mouth hanging open.

"But that brings me back to my point. Katherine Brooks and her soul have been taken by your Lucifer and he and his army are on its way here as we speak."

Michael looked at him. "Why should we believe you, and who are you? Every instinct I have is screaming you are my disgraced brother and so is he." He motioned to Gabriel. "And yet Gabriel stands here beside me." Michael motioned to the angel to his left. Raphael could see the resemblance between the two Gabriels, fair complexions, golden ringlets, piercing blue eyes.

Gabriel took two steps forward and studied his fallen counterpart. His eyes narrowed. "It is me." He finally said in shock.

"I'm you, just a different version of you. We are here from a parallel Earth and my darling love here is very displeased at what you have been doing to Katherine Brook's soul." Gabriel said to Michael.

"You see, our love does not like that you have been killing Katherine through the ages on the off chance that my counterpart may decide to use her as a weapon." Lucifer said to Michael.

"But he has her soul and he is using her as a weapon. What is one human soul if it could result in the destruction of Heaven itself? We protect what we need to protect." An angel said in a deep resonating voice. This angel had chocolate brown skin and tight curly hair, and was as beautiful as his brothers. His dark brown eyes looked at Lucifer.

"Always the practical one Uriel. But you see, our love here does not like the fact that an angel possessed let's see, ah yes here we go." Lucifer pulled the helmet from his older brother's head. "Him." Lucifer said pointing at Leonardo.

The Archangel's gasped. "A mortal, here in Heaven? This cannot be!" Uriel gasped.

"What is that abomin…" Michael began.

"Oh I would stop that thought right there. You see Michael, our love does not like it when anyone refers to them as well…that word. Trust me on this." Lucifer said with a grim smile. It was then that Raphael realized that _Donatello_ had been keeping up with a steady rhythm of taps. Darkness was very aware of the conversation.

"This love of yours is nothing to us." Michael said motioning to Darkness. "Some Fallen, a demon, what do we care? You and your pathetic little army is powerless here in Heaven. We did what needed to be done, and now we must prepare against an all out assault by all of Lucifer's legions, powered by a soul that should not exist." Michael sneered.

"Oh I wouldn't put it that way. You see, she is so much more than you or I could even dream to be, and well, as much as she hates the fact that an angel possessed this…turtle, she is even more upset that said angel took a swipe at her daughters with a sword, two girls who Gabriel and I think of almost as our very own." Lucifer said darkly

"Those two little stars were hers?" Michael said in shock. "So she is some lowly god no one even remembers the name of. They were in the way. If I had succeeded Heaven would not be in danger at the moment."

"I think she may have forgiven you." Lucifer looked at Darkness. "Well perhaps not, but I believe that she is going to do something very unpleasant to you now. Though I have to say, you were a prick on my world and you are a prick in this one. I am so glad that on my world, I killed you." Lucifer waved cheerily as Darkness zeroed in on Michael.

Michael drew his sword as did the other archangels. "I wouldn't get in her way." Lucifer said to the other angels. "She only wants Michael."

"You possessed that creature?" Gabriel asked Michael in shock. "To what purpose?"

"Oh, did Michael go a little rogue, well he possessed this turtle to rape and kill our lovely pure soul." Lucifer supplied.

Michael glared at him. "If I had succeeded I could have ended all of it. And that creature has no right to exist. He was a mistake, a mishap. He was never part of the plan."

Gabriel looked at his brother in shock. "Michael." He said in shock.

Lucifer stepped out of the way of the ice that began forming beneath Darkness' feet. "Well now she's mad." Lucifer said as ice crystals began to form in the air.

The angels looked around in shock. "She…she can't be effecting Heaven like this. There is no god strong enough to do this!" A tawny haired angel said in horror.

"Who said she was a god?" Lucifer said as he stepped back and placed Leonardo's helmet back on his head. Leonardo was looking ill. He was looking at the angel who had possessed him and nearly succeeded in having him rape and kill Katherine. Raphael wanted to charge up and kill the angel himself, but he knew that one of their counterparts would stop him, besides Darkness was pissed that the angel had dared try to kill Starlight and Starbright. Raphael wasn't sure if Michael could have killed them in his brother's body, but he didn't think Darkness cared. It was the point of the matter, and he still could have hurt them, that was all the motivation Darkness needed.

Michael leapt at her. Darkness caught his flaming blade easily in her black gauntleted hand. The flames of the sword were extinguished as ice rode up the blade. The blade shattered. Darkness grabbed her headdress and began to pull it from her head.

"Don't look." Gabriel warned. Raphael closed his eyes because their counterparts and Lucifer were all looking away. It was then that he heard the screaming. As horrible as the screaming was Raphael could not help the small smile of satisfaction that curled his lips up into a cruel smile.

"You…you can't exist…" Michael wailed.

Raphael took a risk and looked at Michael. Darkness' headdress was back on her head and she smiled grimly. His face was pale, and covered in frost. "Ears!" Lucifer yelled as he covered his ears. Raphael's suit shut down all sound. He could see Darkness leaning in and she said one word softly in Michael's ear. His eyes began to bleed, his ears began to bleed and when the chunks began flowing out of his ears he realized that she had literally melted Michael's brain.

Raphael had to admit to himself that he was beginning to feel a little sick to his stomach. Darkness grabbed Michael by the front of his tunic and hauled him up. Ice began forming on his tunic. The other angels who had been shocked into immobility moved to help their brother, but Darkness' held out a hand enveloping them in a frozen cage.

Darkness let Michael drop to the ground. The cage around the other Archangels disappeared. Raphael frowned as he looked at Michael's wings. They were tattered. He hadn't noticed his wings before, but they had been tucked in close to his body. Now he could see that his feathers were falling out.

Gabriel gasped and Raphael realized that he could hear again. "Brother!" He yelled .

"He is Falling." Fallen Gabriel said with a shake of his head.

Darkness looked down at Michael. Her hand reached back as if she were going to punch him, but she stopped, tipped her head to the side in thought and took a step back.

Lucifer looked at Darkness in shock. "And to think I thought she was going to kill you. Of course, knowing her, she knows that something very nasty is going to befall you. In fact you will most likely wish that she had been merciful and just killed you." Lucifer said maliciously. "So now what?" Lucifer asked Darkness. "Even if Heaven is able to mobilize all of its Legions, there is no way they will be able to stop Satan. And you destroyed Heaven's gate. It would have at least taken a little bit of time for Satan to make it past the gate to begin with.

Darkness looked at Lucifer. "We have to save Heaven?" Lucifer asked in shock as they began to follow Darkness out.

The other Gabriel placed a hand on Darkness' shoulder. It began to slowly freeze. He pulled his hand away but asked,"What is happening, what is going on, and who and what is she? And how did I fall.".

Gabriel looked at his other self. "I Fell for the love of a woman." He looked at Darkness. "The love of that woman. A woman I know I will never have." He said softly. "But I would Fall for her all over again." He said with certainty. "As for what is going on, we are going to save Heaven, get Katherine Brook's soul back, and send Satan packing with his tail tucked firmly between his legs. As for who she is, and what she is," Gabriel smiled. "Ask your Falling brother." Gabriel turned away.

They walked back out of Heaven and past Peter who looked at them in shock and obvious relief that they were leaving. They walked past the line up of insubstantial souls reaching the end of the cloud. Raphael wondered what the plan was.

"To think I have risen to such heights of goodness. Saving Heaven from Satan." Lucifer groaned in despair.

Gabriel chuckled, but turned serious. "I know Darkness can destroy all of Satan's Legions, even powered up with other Kaethryn's soul, but I do not understand how we are going to get her soul back."

Lucifer looked at Darkness and then strode over to Raphael's counterpart. "Let's see who you have become." Lucifer growled. 'These suits mask your powers pretty well unless you are really paying attention, but all of your power is starting to make my teeth ache." Lucifer pulled _Raphael's_ helmet off. "Blaenor, head of the your brother's pantheon and a sun god. How fun" Lucifer said with a grimace.

_Raphael_ blinked in shock as he looked down at his hands. "Darkness I can't…I'm no leader." He said in protest.

"I like how you think I had a choice in the matter Raphael." Darkness said softly.

"He's right you know. I would have chosen the blue one for sure, but you stuck him in the Underworld, now why did you do that?" Lucifer asked.

"We have more important matters to attend." Darkness said with a shake of her head. "Michelangelo how well do you think you could manage two illusions at once?" She asked him.

_Michelangelo_ smiled. "Piece of cake." He said flippantly.

"Then I want you to make Heaven disappear, and I want you to create a new gate to Heaven over there." Darkness said to him. "And you have best hurry because I can smell sulphur in the air. The demons are close, and knowing Satan, he will be behind the demons." Darkness said as _Michelangelo_ went to work on masking the real entrance to Heaven and creating a new one just to the right of the actual one.

"I am no coward my love." Lucifer said offended.

"No, but you are smart enough to let your demons do your dirty work for you, and in the event that the sword did not in fact grant your army incredible amounts of power, it would be prudent to let the pawns go first." Darkness said with an arch smile.

"Very true." Lucifer said as he looked at Darkness with a tinge of concern on his face. But what Lucifer was concerned about Raphael didn't know or care. All he wanted to know was where Satan was and how to kill him, and he said as much to Darkness.

"You cannot kill Satan Raphael. I know you seek revenge, but I cannot allow you to kill him. If you do you will bring about the Apocalypse. That is what happened on our Earth. A demon attempted to take control of Hell, which would break the Accords, the Rules which Heaven and Hell play by, which would plunge the world into chaos and the Apocalypse would begin." Darkness said softly.

"It's true." _Raphael_ said. "Why do you think he's still alive?" He said pointing to Lucifer. "If I had my way the guy would have been dead long ago. But he keeps the peace in Hell and peace with Heaven. Without him our Earth would go all Apocalyptic as well." _Raphael_ grumbled. "But now that I am so much more powerful than you Lucifer, don't think that I am not going to kick your ass when we get home." He growled.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Well what do you think?" _Michelangelo_ asked of his handy work. Raphael looked behind him. The gate of Heaven was gone, just blue sky and clouds and instead to the right was a bright shiny golden gate complete with soul line up and Peter.

"Very nicely done, but Michelangelo Peter does not have little devil horns or a goatee." Darkness said with a smile.

"Oops." _Michelangelo_ said innocently as he waved his hand and returned the image of Peter to his normal likeness.

"Weapons at the ready." _Leonardo_ growled. _Michelangelo_ and _Raphael_ put their helmets on. Darkness' lips went blue indicating that she had returned to being Darkness. "Now remember, find Satan and get the sword he will be carrying. He may or may not be wielding it, but it will be a sword that burns a brilliant white, if it is flaming and red that is his regular weapon."

"And don't forget to take down as many bastard demons as you can." _Raphael _said.

"Here they come!" Lucifer yelled. He spread his wings wide and leapt into battle.

Raphael joined in. He lost sight of everyone as the demons flowed over the edge of the cloud and the battle commenced. There were thousands upon thousands of demons of every shape and size. Raphael leapt from cloud to cloud and didn't even contemplate what would happen if he fell. But he didn't care. The bio-suit protected him from the caustic demon blood, and the demon's teeth and claws, but not from the shear strength of the demons.

The demons had flowed over them like a tidal wave and there did not seem to be an end to them. His weapons were wet with blood, and he felt as if there wasn't even a dent in the seemingly endless army.

His carapace hit something. He turned quickly and encountered his older brother. "There's no end to these things Leo!" He yelled. The only way he was staying on top of the demons that could move faster than anything he had seen, was because of the visor in his helmet that alerted him to the attacks. "I haven't even seen any of the elite guards that are supposed to be guardin' Satan."

Leonardo nodded. "Darkness is going through them as fast as she can, but she doesn't want to kill too many and she doesn't want to destroy them all in case she accidently destroys Satan and Katherine's soul."

Raphael heard shouting coming from behind him as thousands upon thousands of angels descended upon them.

"Let's go look for Satan." He said to his brother as they began leaping between the masses of fighters. With the angels to distract the demons he and his brother could look for Satan. The only problem was he didn't know what he was going to do once he actually found him.

He and his brother dodged and slashed their way through the fighting demons. They skidded to a stop and they looked down. Darkness was floating in front of Lucifer, only this version had shoulder length black hair, whereas Darkness' version of Lucifer had waist length white hair.

"Give me the First Soul right now Lucifer unless you want me to throw you back into Hell so far down and so hard that it will make your first Fall there seem like a joy ride." Darkness said to him.

Raphael wasn't able to see any other sword but the one he was holding which was flaming red.

"I do not know what you are talking about creature. I do not know who you are, or even what small pathetic insignificant creature you are, but I would suggest moving out of my wa…" He never finished what he was going to say.

Darkness moved so fast even his helmet couldn't pick it up. One minute she was floating idly in front of him, the next, Darkness' hand was plunged through Satan's chest.

This apparently didn't kill him, but he was not pleased with this particular development.

"I did ask nice." Darkness said sweetly. Darkness' eyes widened in shock as she turned her attention away from Satan. Demons had begun to scream, falling back and falling, their wings flapping wildly as they plummeted. The angels had begun overpowering them. Satan's eyes widened in confusion then anger. "No!" He shouted through bloody teeth.

"Goodbye, enjoy your Fall and your failure, but before you go, I will take this." She said as she pulled Lucifer's arm from his body. He screamed in agony as she threw him downwards as hard as she could. She pulled the limp limb from the now blazing white sword and let it fall after its owner.

Darkness looked up, face grim. The angels had begun to cheer as they chased the retreating demons back towards Limbo and Hell.

The fake gate of Heaven disappeared revealing the real battered and broken gate.

Raphael and Leonardo followed Darkness who flew to the gates of Heaven where she stood in front of the Archangel Gabriel.

"My brother has Fallen. He did not tell me who you were before he Fell, all he could say was The Beginning. I do not know what that means, but I do not think I wish to know." Gabriel said with a shake of his head. "I can feel their power." He said motioning to their counterparts. "I did not notice it before because they are masking it very well, and I have a feeling you have not even begun to show your true power, and for that I am thankful. I know you are from another world, one like our own but very unlike it I believe. I am just grateful that that is where you return to." He said holding out his hand to accept the sword that Darkness held in her grip.

Darkness shook her head. "We do not belong here, and we are leaving, our role here is complete, but I will not give Katherine's soul back to you." She said softly.

"You must." Gabriel said to her as more archangels landed beside him. "I know I cannot make you give up her soul, but I am asking for you to return it to where it belongs."

"I will return it to where it belongs. But it no longer belongs with you." She said sadly as the sword disappeared leaving behind a shining ball of brilliant blue white light. It was like looking at the light of a tiny star. There seemed to be hundred if not thousands of tiny lights all clustered together to make a single whole.

"Oh no."_Leonardo_ whispered as he took off his helmet. He took his cue from the others as all of them removed their helmets.

Gabriel glanced at them, did a double-take and shook his head. Lucifer looked at the glowing ball, his face a mask of grief.

"I do not know what you intend to do with it, but I must take it back to my Father. He will know what to do with it." Gabriel said sadly.

"You realize you caused this, don't you?" Darkness accused him. Gabriel looked at her in shock. "If you and your brothers had left her alone, protected her instead of killed her, she would have lost any power she had. Instead, by following the course of action that you did, you only increased her power, made her even more of a target for Satan. I tried to think on how she had remained pure for so long, and I realized that it was because of the natural order of the world. She was unlucky, death and disease always finding her, killing her when she was young. Then spirits and gods realizing what she was, began twisting her Fate, always killing her, and then Heaven took over where they left off. You blindly followed those who came before until you had created something that Satan could not resist. A light so pure and untouched that it could not help but attract his attention."

"What were we supposed to do?" Gabriel hissed. "My brothers and I did as we were told. There was no other option."

"There is always another option." Darkness said to him.

"And what was the other option?" Gabriel growled out.

"Make it so that Lucifer could never use her soul as a weapon. Make it so that he could never kill her. Make it so that she would influence him to be better." She said quietly.

"And how were we supposed to do that?" Gabriel said in frustration.

"Make him love her." She said simply as she looked at Lucifer.

Gabriel's eyes widened in shock as he fully understood the meaning and implications of her words. Gabriel the Archangel looked at Lucifer and the Fallen Gabriel, then shifted back to Darkness. Her headdress vanished as she looked at the Archangel. "But I see your Father has decided to handle things another way." Her eyes filled with darkness as Gabriel took a step back. She blinked and her eyes returned to their usual shade of green, her headdress reappearing on her head.

"I shall take her soul with me." She said softly.

"And what do you intend to do with it?" Gabriel asked.

"I will give her rest." She said softly.

Gabriel opened his mouth, thought better of what he was going to say and nodded tersely. "Thank you." Gabriel said softly. "And for what it is worth, I'm sorry." With that he and his brothers turned and vanished.

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><p><strong>Please keep reading! And I love reviews! Tell me how I'm doing!<strong>

**Only one chapter left of Part 2, then on to Part 3**


	17. Chapter 17

**Last chapter of Part 2!** **Thank you to forgotten forever for your review! Also thank you to everyone who has reviewed and stuck with the story!**

**Please enjoy!**

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><p><span>Chapter 17<span>

**Raphael** looked at Katherine's soul.

"Darkness." _Leonardo_ said softly. "Is there nothing that can be done?" He asked wretchedly.

"Why are you guys looking like that, we got her soul back, why do you look like something's wrong?" Raphael demanded.

"Raph, her soul is not supposed to look like that." _Donatello_ said softly. "She should look like those souls over in that line. It should look like her, and even if she wasn't in her human form, her soul should not look like it is…shattered. It should be one solid ball of light."

Raphael looked back at Katherine's soul. "So fix it." He said to Darkness.

"Raph, she shattered her soul so that Satan couldn't use her soul for evil." _Leonardo_ said gently, but he looked to Darkness.

"I cannot fix her soul. Only she can fix it." Darkness said as she peered at the glowing ball. "But I do not know if there is anything left _to_ fix."

"When you said you were going to give her rest, what did you mean?" His baby brother asked Darkness.

"I intend to Destroy her soul." Darkness said softly.

"But you just said that she can fix her soul!" Raphael yelled in horror.

"Darkness…." His counterpart asked softly, his face a mask of agony.

"I know you cannot understand, but I have sundered my soul. For thousands of years my soul was broken into three pieces, but it was as if I chopped off an arm and a leg. I could survive without an arm and a leg, but what Katherine did was freeze herself solid and shatter, like breaking glass. There could be hundreds if not thousands of pieces and no main body to bring the pieces back together. She sacrificed her soul to save Heaven, and to save your lives. Give her rest. I think she deserves it." Darkness said softly.

Raphael shook his head in denial. "She can't be gone." He said, voice breaking. "It isn't supposed to end like this. I can't have failed her. Why didn't she wait, she could have waited, we were right here! We came to save her!" He yelled wretchedly.

"Her soul began cracking when Satan tortured her. Her soul was already damaged, the process had already begun and continued after her death." Darkness said softly.

Their counterparts looked at them, each with a look of sadness etched onto their faces.

"We did all we could Raph." Donatello said gently.

"She knew her Fate." Darkness said softly a tarot card appearing between her index and second finger. It was The Hanged Man. "She made her peace with her Fate. You must accept her decision."

Leonardo took the card from Darkness. "What does the card mean?" He asked softly, his voice breaking in grief.

"The Hanged Man is a complex card. It means many things. There are several actions that a person must complete. There is the first action, Letting go. The person must let go, accept what is, and to be open and vulnerable. The next action is reversal. The person must change their point of view, change old priorities and see the world from a different angle. Next is the suspension of all action. It is a time to live in the moment, and take the time to just be. And then finally there is the sacrifice." She said softly. "The card is never meant to be this literal, but for her, it was a foretelling of her Fate, of actions required, of actions done, and finally, her end." Darkness finished quietly.

Raphael shook his head. He didn't care if she knew, he didn't care if she accepted it, he couldn't, he would never accept it. "It isn't fair! You're telling me that she sacrificed her very soul, and that that's it. We are supposed to accept that!" He yelled at her.

"Yes." Darkness said as she closed her fist over Katherine's soul, which vanished as if it had never existed. Raphael swore the world got darker and wept because such a thing of light had existed and ceased to be.

"There is nothing left for me." Raphael said wretchedly. "You won't even let me get revenge on the bastard who did this to her!" He accused her. "You should have let me kill Azazel, even Michael, hell, Satan himself, but you stopped me! You've denied me my revenge!" He spat out.

"Revenge does not fill the emptiness." _Leonardo_ said softly. "Trust me. I sought revenge for Raph's murder and it did nothing to help heal the hole in my heart. Killing Michael, Azazel and Satan would bring you nothing but more emptiness." _Leonardo_ said wretchedly. "And Katherine would not wish for you to stoop to such a thing."

Michelangelo put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He's right Raph. Kitten never wanted us to fight her battles for her. She fought her own battle, and she won." He said softly. "She didn't win in the way we would have wanted her to, but Hell couldn't break her and Satan did not wield her for very long. She gave a big old eff-you to Satan himself." He managed to say with a smile. The smile did not reach his tear-filled eyes, but he was trying to help him. His baby brother was trying to make him feel better and he knew he was right. He knew in his mind that he was right, but just because he knew it, didn't mean his heart wanted to accept it.

"It's time to go home." His older brother said putting a hand on his other shoulder.

He gave a terse nod of agreement. They had to bury her and…His blood ran cold, his eyes opened wide with shock and he paled. His looked at his younger brother. "Donny." He managed to choke out.

"It's okay Raph." Donatello said softly. "Kitten saved my life. She pulled me back. I figure I have been living on borrowed time anyway. I got to know her, love her and be loved by her. I have no regrets."

"No." Raphael said his head shaking from side to side in denial.

"Darkness take Donny. Take him back with you. That would work wouldn't it?" Leonardo said pushing Donatello towards Darkness. "I know we will never see him again, but at least I will know he is alive." Leonardo said desperately.

Darkness shook her head. "Donatello is alive. The moment we shift back to our world, he will die. Katherine's body is in the world of the living again. The Universe will have accepted her death. T'lae-ran is a world of the living. Donatello would have to remain here or in Hell for him to survive. He cannot outrun his Fate, just as Katherine could not outrun hers." She said regretfully.

Leonardo looked at Donatello. "We can't lose them both Darkness, please, please think of something." He pleaded.

"Your Donatello is a fucking god of Fate, get him to save him." Raphael yelled desperately.

"Chwyl is a god of fate for the gods. Your Donatello is not a god, and Chwyl's powers only extend to his own world, not this one." Darkness said looking at _Donatello._

Darkness spread her wings wide. "No!" He managed to shout before his stomach rebelled and he found himself on his knees in the cold snow outside Katherine's house.

Raphael's heart stopped and he fell face first into the cold snow. His heart began to beat again, but was suddenly staggered by a sense of absolute and total loss. Something felt as if it had snapped, as if a piece of himself he hadn't even known existed, was suddenly missing, leaving him incomplete. He felt as if he couldn't move the pain was so great. It wasn't a physical pain, but it should have been. At least physical pain he knew how to deal with, the sheer force of the emotional pain he was in at the moment, broke him.

He managed to lift his head looking for Donatello who lay crumpled in the snow like a broken doll. He managed to reach out an arm to drag himself to his fallen brother. A new wave of horror and grief poured itself into a cup that was already overfull.

Michelangelo managed to pull his fallen brother into his lap. Tears streamed down his face as he clutched him close.

"I would suggest getting him breathing and his heart beating." Darkness said from where she was crouched on the ground. She looked as if she was in pain as blood stood out starkly against the pure white snow.

His head whipped around to where the other _Donatello_ was laying motionless in the snow. His brothers ran to him and helped him up. He groaned in pain.

Leonardo got Michelangelo to lay Donatello flat on the ground and began administering CPR.

Raphael managed to crawl over to his brothers and watched in hope as his brother puffed air into Donatello's lungs and pushed at his chest. He willed his brother to breathe, willed his heart to beat.

"Breathe Donny, damn it, breathe!" He yelled at his younger brother. Suddenly Donatello gasped. He felt relief flood through him as Leonardo helped him sit up. Raphael felt the tears he had been holding in check fall. He pulled his younger brother into his arms.

"How?" Leonardo managed to choke out.

_Donatello_ painfully pulled off the top of his bio-suit showing bloody wounds that had cut through his shell. Deep gouges and bruises marked his arms and sides. With some of the bruises Raphael could just make out the imprints of what looked like chains.

"My Donatello has essentially the same soul as your Donatello." Darkness said as _Leonardo_ and _Raphael_ helped her to stand, while _Michelangelo _helped _Donatello_ to stand. "He is Chwyl, but here he cannot act as a god of fate to the gods, so even though he is still a god, he is essentially Donatello. He stood in front of the chains and acted as a shield for your Donatello."

"I've never complained before, but next time could you just tell me what you want me to do, in plain English?" _Donatello_ grumbled. "I almost didn't take the hint in time."

"Well, I did not wish to give them false hope if it did not work. After all, there was no guarantee." Darkness said in a strained voice.

"Darkness, are you okay?" _Leonardo_ asked in concern.

"Light has been taking the brunt of the damage, and she has been holding the tear open for us to return. Our time here is coming to a close. But there are a few things left to be done." She said shaking off _Raphael _and _Leonardo's_ helping hands.

"Come forward Azazel. I shall take her." Darkness said softly.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. Raphael did not even notice him standing there until he stepped into the moonlight, his arms gingerly holding the wrapped body of the woman he had loved.

Azazel looked better than he had. His wounds had healed to a certain degree. Raphael looked at the demon that looked like the stereotypical devil. The thought of killing him briefly entered his mind to be discarded. As much as he wanted Azazel's death, he knew that Darkness was right. He had, in the end, tried to save her, and he could see the regret and sadness in the demon's eyes. Katherine would hate him if he tried to kill this demon who had tried to save her.

"I'll take her." He finally managed to choke out. "We'll bury her."

Darkness shook her head. "You forget Raphael, she has a family back home. She cannot just disappear. It would not do for the humans to have any reason to come looking for her. Her family deserves peace of mind." She said gently as Azazel deposited Katherine's body into Darkness' arms.

Raphael wanted to protest so badly it choked him, but he knew he couldn't. He wanted to be selfish, but he couldn't. Her family had a right to know she was gone, even if they would never know how or why their daughter, their sister, had died,t at least they would know that she was gone.

Raphael reached back and untied his mask. He walked over to Darkness and lay it atop Katherine's wrapped body. "It's hers, she won it from me. Make sure that they bury her with it." He said as he stepped back. Part of him wanted to rip the cloaks away so he could see the torture that was inflicted upon her. But he realized that he wanted the last image of her to be her face smiling at him with joy, with mischief, with determination, and with a love that was beyond anything he could even begin to comprehend.

He looked to where Katherine's house had stood. A tree bigger than he could almost fathom stood in its spot. The tree was huge but looked like it was dying. Although it was winter there were still leaves on the branches, but they were withered and brown.

He looked at Darkness and their counterparts and nodded. There wasn't anything to be said. They vanished as the lair came into focus in front of him. Casey and April leapt up from the couch they had been sitting on. April took one look at their faces and she choked back a sob shaking her head in denial.

* * *

><p><strong>Darkness<strong> cloaked everyone within a wall of darkness and looked at the woman in her arms. She looked at the men who surrounded her and she lay Katherine down in the snow.

"Kaethryn?" Lucifer questioned softly.

"I had wondered." Darkness said quietly to the voice in her head. She looked at the card of The Fool that she held in her hand. It vanished.

She pulled Katherine's soul from within her robes. She had been reluctant to Destroy her soul, but had fully intended to do it, and yet, she felt that the time was not yet right to do so. She knew that there was another possibility waiting for the right time to present itself.

She looked at the black, golden tipped butterfly that landed on Katherine's soul.

"I see." She finally said.

"Wait, Darkness what's going on? You said you intended to Destroy her soul." _Raphael_ said in confusion.

"I had intended to Destroy her soul, but intention is not the same as implementation." She said quietly. "Besides, if I had Destroyed her soul, Raphael and Donatello would have died."

"So you're making her the new god of Nightmares, but you told them that her soul was shattered!" _Raphael_ said in disbelief.

"I am not making her the new god of Nightmares. That position has already been filled." Darkness said slowly. "Heterion was not only the god of Nightmares you know." Darkness said in thought. "He had two brothers who I killed. As the surviving heir, he assumed the powers and responsibilities of his brothers. Did you even wonder who Heterion was before he inherited his father's godhede?" Darkness asked him.

"Can't say I cared." _Raphael _said with a shake of his head.

"He was the god of Daydreams. So technically with both godhedes he was a god of Dreams." She said. "Hence the gold tipped wings on the Nightmare godhede." She said pointing to the wings of the butterfly that was sitting on Katherine's soul. "He was also technically a god of the night, inherited from his brother, and a god of the moon, also from his other Destroyed brother." She paused in thought. "So what do we get when we mix together, dreams, the moon, the night, a star, and power so ancient and powerful that it transcends all time, all belief, and all reality?" She asked motioning to the indistinct man who stood in front of her offering her a single green leaf. She took the leaf with a slow nod of understanding.

_Donatello's _eyes widened. "Magic." _Donatello_ said with disbelief. "You're creating a goddess of magic!" _Donatello_ said with awe.

"This world still contains magic, but it is not focused. The creatures of magic are weak and dying. The gods on this world are just soft voices drifting in the wind. But there is a need and a want for _something_, and thus the Universe answers the need." Darkness said softly. "And technically I am not doing anything. I do not have the power to Create, only to Destroy." Darkness said with a shake of her head.

"But her soul is shattered." _Michelangelo _said to her.

"It is." She said slowly. "But there is a body, a soul, a godhede, and hope." She said softly.

"But you told them that there wasn't anything you could do." _Raphael _protested.

"There isn't. Katherine shattered her soul. Even on the off chance that she managed to pull her shattered pieces together, it could take her millennia to do so. And that is a big _if_. And even _if _she did manage to do this, I do not know what she would come back_ like_. Best case scenario, she would come back with no memory of who she was; worst case scenario she would come back completely insane." Darkness took Katherine's soul and placed it on her body. She pushed the soul and godhede into Katherine's body. She placed the single leaf on her chest. She cloaked herself _Michelangelo_ and Katherine's body in total darkness leaving the men who surrounded her unable to see. The others did not need to witness her broken body. She pulled off the capes that were dark enough to hide all of the blood that had soaked into them. She looked at the red mask in her hands and deftly tied it around Katherine's upper arm.

She heard _Michelangelo _gasp. Katherine's body wasn't as bad as it could have been. Darkness acknowledged to herself. She had been badly beaten, stabbed, and cut. After she had died strips of flesh had been cut from her back to wrap around the grip of the sword so that Lucifer could hold it. But it was the type of injuries that she had sustained that had made her not want the four brothers to see. Her Lucifer had been right. Satan had tried to break her by using the images and the weapons of the men she loved to torture her. She knew her husbands doubles well enough to know this knowledge would add too much to an already heavy burden.

"Mealtair, I can only Destroy. You however, can Create. Between you, the Power, and the Nightmare godhede, I believe you should be able to create a new god."

_Michelangelo_ looked at her in surprise. "But Darkness, I can't." He said shaking his head.

She looked at him and he reluctantly nodded. _Michelangelo _placed his hands on her chest. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Power began riding over Katherine's naked, bloody and battered body. Her body rose up as she was enveloped by the power that blazed through and around her.

"Good luck." She said to the woman who stood in front of her.

The woman looked at her blankly, her golden eyes glowing softly. She bowed and vanished.

Darkness dropped her cloaking of darkness and looked into the empty night sky.

"You can't just let her go! You have to at least tell them that she is alive and somewhere!" _Raphael_ protested.

"Tell them who is alive?" Darkness asked.

"Katherine!" _Raphael_ gestured to the spot where Katherine had lain.

"That was not Katherine" Darkness told him.

_Raphael _opened his mouth to reply but stopped. "How do you know it wasn't her?" He asked.

"Trust me." She said softly as she silently wished the woman luck. She only hoped that one day, she may at least _remember_ Katherine.

"Darkness what did you mean by the position of the god of Nightmares has already been filled?" _Donatello_ asked in confusion.

"The new god of Nightmares was born just over two years ago." She said spreading her wings wide. 'Or I should say, goddess of Nightmares."

_Donatello's_ eyes widened in horror. "Hitsuzen!" He whispered.

Darkness looked at her worried husband. "Don't worry, she is actually a Goddess of Dreams." She said as she took out the butterfly she had trapped within her cloaks. Her daughter had sent it along to follow her 'other' father. It was golden with purple tipped wings. A recurring dream, and yet more than a dream, a gateway would be a better way to think of it. A gateway to The Dreaming. It was this butterfly that had stilled her hand and stopped her from Destroying Katherine's soul, because her daughter was never wrong. She let the butterfly go so that it would find the other Donatello.

She looked around where they stood. Azazel had vanished. She had an inkling as to where he was, and what was going to happen.

"Kaethryn?" Lucifer asked her.

"Yes Lucy?" Darkness asked as she felt the universe shift, the Accords of Heaven and Hell break. Satan was dead. Darkness frowned. _That was quick_. She thought to herself until she remembered that time did not work the same in this Hell as it did on Earth. Whoever had killed Satan could have worked decades, possibly centuries to kill him.

Lucifer looked up into the night sky as he realized what had happened. He shook his head. "Is that what happened?" He asked her. "Did my Father make me fall in love with you?"

Darkness looked at Lucifer. "What do you think?" She asked back.

Lucifer frowned. "He could not have made me do anything, but there was the possibility that I would fall in love with you." He said softly.

"There is Fate and Destiny and Chance, and so many forces that work to push and pull one towards the future. But there is always free will. God gave you that Lucy." She said softly.

Lucifer nodded.

Darkness spread her wings wide as she took the men she loved home. She looked at Light, who looked worn and like her, had blood dripping from her lips. They collapsed against each other.

She found comfort in Light's arms as they held each other, healing the tears within the universe and within themselves.

Light kissed her gently and vanished. Darkness looked at where Light had been and felt as if part of her wanted to go where Light existed. There would always be that part of her that wanted to fall back into the nothingness that was true Darkness. To chase Light, to be chased by Light, to exist in a time and place where things were so complex they had reached a form of simplicity, where things just _were_. She looked at the men that she loved, and thought about her children. But there was too much holding her here.

She looked at Lucifer and Gabriel and smiled sadly. They looked at themselves as their demonic forms were stripped away leaving their angelic forms in their place.

Lucifer's hair was still white, but he was now an angel. He marvelled at his feathered wings. "I think your Father wishes you home." Darkness said softly.

"But…but how? Why?" Gabriel asked in shock.

"Well your Father is all about forgiveness." Darkness said with a shrug. "But perhaps it is because you have finally realized the simpleminded pettiness of your sin."

"That could have been me." Lucifer said softly. "No, that monster was me. I was him. The way I was back then I would have destroyed everything, just to prove that I could. I wanted to prove that I was somehow greater than my Father, but I could never be." Lucifer shook his head. "I don't want to be." He finished softly as he looked at his hands.

"We can go home Luce." Gabriel said softly.

Darkness could see that home was not just a place for them. Heaven was an extension of themselves. Being kicked out of Heaven was like a bird losing its ability to fly. To be offered the chance to fly again, was something that was hard to resist.

"Oh screw it." Lucifer said with a shake of his head. "Not interested in redemption."

Gabriel's jaw fell open in shock. "I'll keep the body though, just to remember." Lucifer said with a smile. "But I can't lose all of my…evil credibility." He said as his feathered wings turned black as pitch. Gabriel laughed then as his wings turned black.

Her husbands looked at the two Fallen in shock. "But why?" _Leonardo_ asked.

Lucifer and Gabriel looked at each other and shrugged. "How would you like to be moved out of your Father's house of several thousand years and then have to go back and live with him, plus all of your lovely brothers and sisters? No thank you."

_Raphael _strode up to Lucifer and grabbed him by the arm hauling him away to talk privately. She listened to their conversation while she pretended not to hear.

_Raphael _studied Lucifer. "I know that was the truth, but what is your real reason for not wanting to go to Heaven?" He growled.

Lucifer looked at him and lost his smile. Although she knew Lucifer wasn't going to lie, she had assumed he was going to give a truthful but flippant answer, but this didn't seem to be the case. Darkness attempted to keep the smile from her face. As much as _Raphael _hated Lucifer and as much as Lucifer tried to get under _Raphael's_ skin as much as he could, she knew that Lucifer actually liked _Raphael_. Of all of her husbands Lucifer liked him the most. Lucifer once told her that _Raphael_ reminded him of himself, a tiny bit.

"Because if I went back to Heaven, I would not be able to see my true family again." Lucifer whispered.

Darkness attempted to school her features but she knew by now they were all eavesdropping on Lucifer and _Raphael's_ conversation and no one was paying attention to her.

_Raphael's_ mouth hung open. "Wait, say again I must still have some sulphur or brimstone wedged in my ear, I think I misheard you." _Raphael_ said shaking his head.

Lucifer did not answer, just looked at _Raphael_ and shrugged. Darkness could see the wheels turning in _Raphael's_ head. "You really do love her." _Raphael_ finally said. "You would throw away a chance to go home, for her." He said in shock.

Lucifer remained silent.

"I always knew you loved her, but…I thought that you were just trying to get under our skin and piss us off." _Raphael _said in shock.

Lucifer gave a quick smile. "I was." He said with a shrug. "I have loved her for over three millennia and through three incarnations. I would give up Heaven for her. I would do anything for her, but it is more than that." Lucifer said softly.

"Wait you said family, like as in…us?" _Raphael_ said in shock.

Lucifer sighed. "They say you cannot pick your family, I suppose that is true because I would not pick the one I was…born…into, and I would not have picked the one I have been…adopted into." Lucifer said with a shrug.

"You think of us, as your family?" _Raphael _asked incredulous. Lucifer shrugged. "But you hate us! You want to steal her away from us!" _Raphael _exclaimed.

"Perhaps I did, the first part, but I would never steal her from you." He finished softly. "I love her too much to do such a thing to her."

_Raphael's_ mouth fell open in shock. "But…but…" _Raphael _couldn't complete his sentence.

Lucifer looked at him. "Now do not misunderstand me reptile, if at any point Kaethryn came to me and indicated that she had tired of you and wished to share my bed, I would accept that. If she wanted me to kill you all and become her new husband, I would do it, but I would never seduce her from your arms. She's too smart for such a thing and I respect her wishes too much to even try." Lucifer shook his head. "And yet part of me would so dislike having to kill you, so I would suggest you not mess this up." Lucifer growled at him.

"So even though you know, she would most likely never be with you, you are still giving up Heaven?" _Raphael_ asked him.

"Are we back to this again?" Lucifer asked in a bored voice. _Raphael _glared at him. He sighed. "However much I wish I didn't feel this way, you are my family. I have thought of you as part of my family for…let me see, about 5 years now. Such a short time for feelings of hatred and jealousy to turn into acceptance and I hesitate to use the word love so I will say instead liking. But I believe it all began with two sets of eyes, one moss green the other honey brown looking up at me and smiling. Added to those eyes are now two other sets of brown eyes and a pair of violet ones, and all of the temptations and glories of Heaven could not pull me away from those eyes that smiled at me with the absolute innocence of freely given love." Lucifer said fiercely.

"You really do think of the children as your own." _Leonardo_ said not even pretending he wasn't listening anymore.

"We do." Gabriel said as he walked over to Lucifer. "You are all our family. And we will never abandon it, and will protect it with our lives." Gabriel said with determination.

"Because sometimes it is the family that chooses you, which you cannot so easily walk away from." Darkness said with a loving smile at the two Fallen.

Lucifer looked at her seriously. "You are planning on leaving now, aren't you my love?" He asked her.

Darkness tipped her head to the side. 'And why would you believe I am leaving?" She asked him.

He gestured to her now pale husbands. "You have made them untouchable by the other gods. I believe you would only do such a thing if you were going to leave them unprotected." Lucifer stopped and his eyes widened. "Or if you believed you were not coming back." He finished in shock.

"There was the possibility that I would not make it back, that is true, but I have not made them anything; they are what the Universe wishes for them to be." Darkness said with a soft smile.

End Part II

* * *

><p><strong>So what did everyone think of Part 2, a little out there I know, but Part 3 is back to the world we know and love LOL, and the fallout of Katherine's death. But of course I have plans for our heroes and for Katherine. *Evil grin* <strong>

**Chapter 1 Part 3 is up under Morning Star Part 3**


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